Reviews

Dameware – So Good it Should be Mandatory

By Aaron Leskiw, CCDA, CCNA, MCSE, ITILv3, MCSA, A+ on November 5, 2012

There are a small number of tools out there that, once used, become so indispensable that you can’t live without them. Dameware makes such a tool. Yes, it’s that good – read on and you’ll see why. What is Dameware? Dameware (part of the SolarWinds family of products) built their reputation on two products: NT Utilities, […]

Best IPAM Software & Tools for IP Address Management – Infoblox vs Bluecat vs SolarWinds ?

By Aaron Leskiw, CCDA, CCNA, MCSE, ITILv3, MCSA, A+ on November 5, 2012

Most network admins still manage IP addresses the old way – using spreadsheets that are stored on shared drives, and updated if everyone remembers when they should. The Excel spreadsheet method is rife with hassles: small mistakes compound over time, duplicate IP addresses get assigned, machines are retired and IP space is wasted. It’s such […]

SolarWinds Security Event Manager Review: One Powerful Security Tool

By Aaron Leskiw, CCDA, CCNA, MCSE, ITILv3, MCSA, A+ on May 17, 2012

Your network is filled with firewalls, servers, and routers capable of detecting and log security threats. But when a threat comes up, too many admins rely on a slow process of manually wading through tens of thousands of log entries to find and correlate a small number of log entries. The result? Slow detection and […]

ManageEngine DeviceExpert Review: Network Configuration, Change, and Compliance Management

By Aaron Leskiw, CCDA, CCNA, MCSE, ITILv3, MCSA, A+ on May 2, 2012

Once you have a good network monitoring system in place, what’s next? Many organizations have a gap around configuration, compliance, and inventory management. They know which routers and switches are up or down, but don’t necessarily know useful information like which admins made recent changes (and why!), which devices are mis-configured or running old code, […]

ManageEngine PasswordManager Pro Review

By Aaron Leskiw, CCDA, CCNA, MCSE, ITILv3, MCSA, A+ on April 26, 2012

Are you still storing password in spreadsheets, or worse, Word documents? Spreadsheets and other text-based files can have serious security holes – not to mention problems with lost password files, and inability to restrict who can access which passwords. Password sharing in a large enterprise can be very challenging because of the many different types […]

ManageEngine Applications Manager Review

By Aaron Leskiw, CCDA, CCNA, MCSE, ITILv3, MCSA, A+ on March 29, 2012

Application Monitoring software can make the difference between knowing that a server went offline after the fact, and knowing that a server’s disk space has been running out for two weeks, and that URL response to your web-apps has been getting slower and slower. ManageEngine’s Applications Manager is an application monitoring system that can help […]

ManageEngine IT360 Review – Unified IT Infrastructure Management

By Aaron Leskiw, CCDA, CCNA, MCSE, ITILv3, MCSA, A+ on March 21, 2012

The Problem: Admins receive an alert from your Network Management System when a random server crashes. But do they know which parts of the business rely on that server? Is it a crucial part of your e-commerce, or just a business support server that is not urgent to repair? As an IT manager, can you […]

ManageEngine NetFlow Analyzer

By Aaron Leskiw, CCDA, CCNA, MCSE, ITILv3, MCSA, A+ on February 1, 2012

In today’s networks, bandwidth consumption seems to expand to use up any available bandwidth. Demand can be driven by business use of cloud services, VOIP and Video, online applications, and centralized services. But, it can also be consumed by users with their own devices like iPads, Android Phones, and laptops; or for personal use of […]

ManageEngine OpManager Review

By Aaron Leskiw, CCDA, CCNA, MCSE, ITILv3, MCSA, A+ on January 31, 2012

Are you winning the battle to tame your network? Or are you constantly are surprised by servers running out of disk space and bandwidth shortages? Does the ring of your cell phone make you shudder and wonder what just broke? If you answered yes, then you need better network management software! ManageEngine OpManager can help […]

The Best Free TFTP Servers for Windows

By Aaron Leskiw, CCDA, CCNA, MCSE, ITILv3, MCSA, A+ on December 9, 2011

A good TFTP server should be part of every admin’s toolkit. We’ve rounded up some of the Best Free TFTP server applications we could find and compared them all below. But first some basics: What is TFTP? TFTP, or Trivial File Transfer Protocol, is a simple and basic file transfer protocol. It’s particularly useful for […]

Featured Review: System Shepherd from Absolute Performance

By Aaron Leskiw, CCDA, CCNA, MCSE, ITILv3, MCSA, A+ on November 30, 2011

What is it? System Shepherd is primarily geared toward network and system admins, technology executives and application owners who want to “see what the end user sees” when it comes to application and network performance, even simulating the network speeds experienced by users in different locations around the world. How is it deployed? The monitoring […]