This network and resource reporting tool now works with Windows NT
Many of you are familiar with BindView EMS/NOSadmin from your NetWare days
(or you currently work in a mixed shop). You know that BindView EMS is a network
reporting tool. But what you might not know is that BindView now works with
Windows NT and NetWare 3.x and 4.x.
Because many reviews have covered how BindView works as a network and
resource reporting tool in a NetWare environment, I won't go into that area
here. Instead, I'll focus on how BindView works with NT. BindView EMS uses
snap-in management modules to collect data from all areas of the enterprise.
When you plug in a single module for a single NOS (e.g., NT), the module works
as a comprehensive management and security tool for a homogeneous network. When
you integrate multiple modules to manage multiple NOSs (e.g., NetWare 3.x,
NetWare 4.x, and NT), BindView EMS lets the modules access information from
NetWare or NT from one console and view information from multiple NOSs on one
screen.
Installation is straightforward. I installed a query engine on a machine in
each of the domains I wanted to report on. This command-line process is easy.
Next, I installed the EMS console program on the machines that I used for the
reporting. Aside from a few permissions problems (hey, we're talking NT),
installation was easy. Total installation time was 35 minutes.
For this review, I configured BindView on an HP NetServer LX Pro server
with four 200MHz Pentium Pro CPUs, 512MB of memory, and 4GB of disk. I made this
server part of the main Windows NT Magazine Lab domain (NTLABS). I then
created 10 clients (100MHz Pentium clones) and made them a part of a different
domain (CLIENT). I used BindView from NTLABS to manage systems on the CLIENT
domain.
Up and Running
I ran a few reports from the local console to make sure everything was
working properly before the real test. As any administrator knows, you have to
be able to run the reporting and management software from your office. You don't
want to have to get up and go to the machine in question. I jumped right in and
installed the management tools on my laptop. Given that this version of BindView
was still beta, the install went pretty well. BindView uses Btrieve, a DOS-based
client/server database platform, to store its data, so you have to edit a couple
of .ini files. This step was a little bit weird, mostly because I haven't edited
an .ini file in about three years. I'd like to see BindView store these values
in the Registry, where they belong, and provide a configuration utility so that
you don't have to edit these values manually. Also, I'd like to choose the
container that BindView stores the information in. Having to worry about a
Btrieve database is just another hassle. If BindView used Open Database
Connectivity (ODBC) calls for storing information, storing that information in
the container you choose would be a simple exercise.
Once I'd tweaked all the .ini files, I loaded the program successfully.
Screen 1 is the EMS console screen, and I've selected the Windows NT tab, where
each icon represents a logical grouping of tasks (submenu) or a report. I
clicked the List of Services icon to bring up Screen 2, which lists all services
running on the client machines in my scope (BindView presets this list at the
factory, but you can modify it--more about modifying later). If you click the
security icon, you get a submenu and more security-related choices.
Strength in Reporting
BindView EMS's strength is reporting, and it ships with hundreds of standard
reporting templates. Table 1 lists some commonly used reports you can create
with BindView. But one thing I've learned in systems administration is that if
you think you have all the reports you need, you just haven't talked to enough
senior managers yet. So with this idea in mind, I took a standard report that
ships with the product and modified it.
No systems administrator has enough disk space on the network, so I started
with the Disk Space Analysis report. The BindView report shows the available
free disk space and any disk space the client is currently using. You can add
these two numbers to get the total disk size, but I modified the report to
display total disk size.
You can use the current disk usage graph as a template and modify it, or
you can make a duplicate, as I chose to do, with the Make Duplicate function in
the Edit menu. Right-click the duplicate item, and select the Modify Definition
function. To modify the query portion, navigate the buttons until you reach a
display similar to Screen 3. Scroll down the Fields box to find the Disk Space
Total KB field. Click this field to add it to the field list. Next, you'll want
to filter out certain machines. In my case, I wanted to see only the Telos
machines. Choose Filter Specification to filter the output for this query. I
filtered by machine name and restricted the query to only machines that start
with Telos, as shown in Screen 4. I also wanted to sort the results by disk size
instead of machine name. From Screen 5, you get the same point-and-click
modification of the sort criteria. You can also change the scope to reflect only
specific domains. For my report, I left it at the default. Click OK to finish
the process.
Next, I decided to modify the graph for my report. To make this graph
functional, I changed it to a 2D horizontal bar graph. I chose the Graph Setup
option from the modification screen to bring up Screen 6, and I selected the
horizontal bar graph and selected 2D. I clicked OK and was back at the
modification screen and ready to test the modified report. I clicked Launch
Graph to bring up the modified report, shown in Screen 7. Now I needed to save
this definition. I selected Close from the File menu, and BindView asked whether
I wanted to save this definition. I said yes, and was finished. (To change the
name of this report or the icon that represents it, you can right-click the icon
and choose Properties.)
Almost Perfect
As I demonstrated, you can quickly build a toolkit of useful reports with
BindView. As I created different reports, I was continually amazed at how
quickly I could manipulate the results into a meaningful graph or report.
Unfortunately, BindView doesn't provide desktop management. If you want to
install some software or take control of a system to solve a problem, forget it.
BindView Development intends to add these features, and the company promises the
management functions will work the same regardless of the operating system.
If you need a top-notch reporting tool for your network and can wait for
the management tools to follow, BindView is an excellent choice. Because it is
easy to set up and supports NT and NetWare 3.1 and 4.0, BindView is a nice
option for mixed shops. If BindView can deliver on the promise of complete
desktop management for NT, NetWare, and UNIX to complement its already
impressive reporting features, systems administrators will beat a path to
BindView Development's door.
End of Article
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