News

Tool for Handheld Remote Management of Windows Servers Enhanced

• By Scott Bekker
• August 21, 2003

Sonic Mobility upgraded its utility for remote management of Windows servers and networks from handheld wireless devices this week to add support for managing Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory Organizational Units.

The utility, sonicadmin 3.0, runs on Pocket PC or Blackberry devices. Previous versions allowed users to remotely manage Windows servers and connect to other systems and devices via Telnet and SSH.

With the new version, users will be able to manage Exchange, with support for creating and modifying contact e-mail addresses, adding or editing SMTP proxy addresses, managing storage limits and other features.

Administrators can now also use sonicadmin to manage Windows Server Active Directory Organizational Units. An administrator can manage the OU that a user belongs to, manage local and domain users and set or modify user account expiration dates.

In a nod to security requirements, Sonic Mobility built in RSA SecurID two-factor authentication to the tool. In organizations with an RSA ACE server, the mobile user must authenticate with that server before accessing sonicadmin.

The new version also aims to address situations where line-mode commands are insufficient for tasks, such as with Unix VI text editors and Nortel switch interfaces. Version 3.0 adds VT-100 Terminal Emulation for those scenarios.

Other features include a Microsoft Management Console snap-in and enhanced data compression.

Pricing starts at $249 per Windows server managed and $49 per Telnet/SSH device managed, according to the company's Web site.