Thursday | 8 January, 2009
LinuxWorld.com.au
Managing in mixed environments
A look at some of the tools that can help you manage mixed Linux/Windows environments
John Fontana (Network World) 28/10/2008 10:34:00
  • 1 of 10
Mixed management: There are the big four system management vendors, but then there is a list of upstarts who want a piece of the pie or to carve out a niche among tools to manage mixed Linux/Windows environments.
Mixed management: There are the big four system management vendors, but then there is a list of upstarts who want a piece of the pie or to carve out a niche among tools to manage mixed Linux/Windows environments.
Mixed management: There are the big four system management vendors, but then there is a list of upstarts who want a piece of the pie or to carve out a niche among tools to manage mixed Linux/Windows environments. Zenoss: The company has three editions of its open-source platform -- Core, Professional and Enterprise. The flagship Enterprise version supports Windows Monitoring Infrastructure (WMI) and Windows Performance Monitor (Perfmon) as the foundation of its Windows management capabilities. Microsoft's System Center: Microsoft has added support for OpenPegasus and WS-Management to its System Center Operations Manager to give it basic native cross-platform support. In addition, Microsoft's virtualization management tool, Virtual Machine Manager 2008, can manage across VMware and Xen environments. Groundwork Monitor: The Monitor lineup -- Enterprise, Pro, Community -- manages and monitors enterprise networks, including servers, applications and databases running on Linux, Unix and Windows. In the screenshot, its log reporter feature working across Windows, Linux and Cisco platforms. Novell's Platespin portfolio: Platespin PowerConvert provides support for multiple hypervisor technologies and lets users move workloads between virtual and physical worlds. Platespin PowerRecon (workload management) and Forge (virtualized disaster recovery) round out the lineup. Novell's partnership with Microsoft also is focused on producing integration among their management wares. Hyperic HQ Enterprise: Hyperic manages all layers of a Web infrastructure and its mix of platforms and environments. In the screenshot, its dashboard feature provides admins with a view into a range of platforms including Windows, Linux Cisco and VMware. Red Hat oVirt: The open-source oVirt Project has a stated goal of producing virtualization management products for mixed environments. The project provides the libvirt open source virtualization API and Web-based VM management console. Quest extends Windows tools: Quest Management Xtensions provide add-ons to System Center Operations Manager and Configuration Manager that support a diverse range of platforms. Quest, which recently acquired NetPro, also has tools to bridge Active Directory into the Linux/Unix world. As does competitors such as Centrify. Likewise Enterprise: The open-source platform focuses on managing authentication information by tying Linux, Unix and Mac systems to Microsoft's Active Directory. What do you think? What are your favourite tools for managing mixed environments. What's missing in the available tool sets that needs to be added?
 
Get a job Careerone
Sponsored Links