Netlinx, Inc. is currently developing a server management software agent for remotely managing your IPAM servers. The agent will run on Sun Solaris, Red Hat Linux, and Microsoft Windows Server, giving you appliance-like management of your servers. There are several different models of IPAM solutions that deployments can fall into.

The software model is the oldest model, which consists of a back-end data store for all of your IPAM information, a user interface to manipulate it, and a mechanism to take that information and distribute it to currently deployed and remotely managed IPAM DNS and DHCP servers. These remote IPAM DNS and DHCP servers can be run on a wide variety of hardware and operating system platforms. The Appliance model is a one-stop shop solution which integrates the data store, user interface, and DNS and DHCP servers into a single, simple, and easy to manage appliance device. Although the Appliance model is normally much easier to support with a significantly higher ROI.

What are the benefits provided by the Netlinx Remote Server Management Service?

Installing RSMS on all your manually controlled IPAM DNS and DHCP systems will provide you with the following benefits:

• Centralized Access - centralized user authorization and authentication, obviates the need to create or maintain individual accounts on your servers
• Common User Interface - manage Solaris, Linux, and Windows servers from the same web UI
• Batch Processing - implement common tasks across multiple systems at the same time
• Ease of Use - The common web UI eliminates the need for access to the command-line
• Increased Security - limited command set in RSMS, eliminates the need to create local UNIX accounts or root access
• Extensible - RSMS can be enhanced with custom plug-ins

How can I simplify the maintenance of all our currently deployed IPAM DNS and DHCP servers?

RSMS gives you a Common Operating Environment using a centralized web-based graphical user interface for managing your different IPAM system platforms. RSMS abstracts the different operating systems into a single UI for the same look and feel. Additionally, since all access to RSMS is centralized, you no longer need to manage local UNIX accounts and/or access to the root user or system Administrator accounts.

What functionality is delivered by the RSMS agent, and can it be extended?

RSMS functions are performed by a series of highly customizable plug-in modules. RSMS can be enhanced by developing and adding additional modules. The base modules include:

• Service Module - start, stop and manage system processes
• Log Data Mining Module - collect and analyze log files
• IPAM Application Module - manage application configuration files and applying patches
• OS Module - OS-level patching and maintenance
• Network Module - ping, traceroute, netstat, show process lists and more
• Disaster Recovery Module - DR configuration changes and application flips
• Troubleshooting Module - troubleshoot IPAM, DNS, and/or DHCP issues

How does RSMS handle security and auditing from the user and agent perspective?

RSMS handles security and auditing with the following:

• Strong User Authentication- (SSO, Siteminder, LDAP, Active Directory, Radius)
• Encrypted Traffic - all user traffic, as well as, web-to-agent traffic is encrypted with SSL
• Agent Authentication - (IP Access List, SSL shared keys)
• User Auditing - all user and agent events are logged to file and database

Is it possible to grant different levels of access that is based upon role or experience level?

RSMS is fully customizable, making it is possible to grant read-only, partial, and full access privileges to your administrators based upon their job function, role and/or level of expertise.

Does this sound like an opportunity for you to reduce expenses, create efficiency, and simplify the management and operation of your IPAM DNS and DHCP servers?

Please contact us by requesting more details on the Netlinx Remote Server Management Service. You can reach us here.