3.10 Microsoft Exchange Server support utilities

Chapter 3 - Management and Monitoring Tools
Monitoring and Managing Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server
by Mike Daugherty
Digital Press 2001

3.11 Third-party tools

The success of previous versions of Exchange Server has generated a market for a large number of third-party system management and monitoring tools. Most of these products were developed for Exchange version 4, 5, or 5.5 and may not work with Exchange 2000. The developers of these third party tools may need to redesign their products given the new functionality and interfaces available with Exchange 2000 Server. Depending upon their products past success, some of these companies may choose to retire a product rather than invest additional money in it.

As some third-party products disappear, others may be introduced to extend some of the new capabilities introduced with Exchange 2000.

You should select third-party management and monitoring tools with care. Many are developed by excellent software developers with considerable knowledge of Exchange; some are not. When considering any third-party tool, you should analyze several areas:

• Is the functionality better than the standard Microsoft tools that come with Exchange?

• Will the software scale to the size of your enterprise? Will it easily support the number of users, the number of servers, and the number of messages?

• Does the software introduce security concerns?

• Is the software flexible enough to satisfy your management and monitoring needs?

• What is the cost of the software? What will support services cost? What is the potential return on investment?

• Does the vendor have the type of support options that you desire , such as online knowledge bases, 24x7 telephone support, and so on.

• Does the software work in your hardware environment? For example, does it work with your Storage Area Network (SAN), Windows 2000 cluster, and tape devices?

• Does the vendor have a history of providing new releases in a timely fashion after Microsoft upgrades?

If your answers to these questions are satisfactory, you should perform a hands-on analysis of the product. If your analysis proves favorable, the next step is to pilot the software in a limited production environment. Based on your experience during the pilot, you may want to refine or modify your planned deployment.

Table 3.1 includes a brief description of some of the third-party system management and monitoring tools that are available with Exchange Server 5.5. There are no guarantees that these products will continue to be available for Exchange 2000.

Table 3.1: Third-Party Tools

Product/Developer	Description
Profile Maker AutoProf.com www.autoprof.com	Provides users with automatic profiles across your WAN for full Outlook client access from anywhere on your network.
UltraBac for Windows NT/2000 Ultrabac.com www.ultrabac.com	A backup utility that includes an optional Microsoft Exchange Agent.
PATROL Knowledge Module for Microsoft Exchange Server BMC Software, Inc. www.bmc.com	Provides automated, continuous monitoring and management.
MailWatch Workgroup Edition Central House Technologies www. centralhouse.com	Monitors in real time and reports on the messaging use of Exchange users.
Database Agent for Microsoft Exchange Server Cheyenne Software www.cheyenne.com	Allows ARCserve for Windows NT to back up and restore your Microsoft Exchange Server.
AntiVirus Agent Cheyenne Software www.cheyenne.com	Works with Cheyennes antivirus product, InocuLAN, to scan for viruses in document attachments and Exchange databases.
Network Documentor for Microsoft Exchange Servers ecora.com www.ecora.com	Remotely collects configuration data located in the Registry and directory and uses the data to generate documentation.
Mail Essentials for Exchange GFI Ltd. www.gficomms.com	Features include company-wide disclaimer/footer text, content checking, archiving, antispam measures and compression of outbound attachments.
Content Auditing for Microsoft Exchange Organizations MicroData Group , Inc. www.microdata.com	An e-mail content monitoring tool that scans incoming and outgoing e-mail for profanity, corporate code words, or confidential company terminology.
NetIQ AppManager for Microsoft Exchange NetIQ Corporation www.netiq.com	Allows you to centrally monitor the performance and availability of services on all Exchange servers. It provides capabilities similar to those found with the MMC Performance console, but with added features and capabilities.
Veritas Backup Exec for Windows NT/2000 Veritas Software Corporation www.veritas.com	A backup tool that supports Exchange Server data.
Sybari Antigen for Exchange Sybari Software www.sybari.com	Offers antivirus protection for Microsoft Exchange.
Norton AntiVirus for Internet E-mail Gateways Symantec www.symantec.com	Provides antivirus protection for Microsoft Exchange.
MailCheck Tally Systems www.tallysystems.com	A monitoring tool that checks the end-to-end connectivity of e-mail networks, delivering real-time connectivity information and problem alerts.
Virus Protection for Microsoft Exchange Server Trend Micro www.antivirus.com	Works in real time to detect and clean viruses in attachments to e-mail messages.