How is NetDirector different from other tools on the market?

Several tools are available to automate many of the tasks that, even for the experienced Linux administrator, can be time-consuming and error-prone – tasks like patch and update distribution, bare-metal and bulk template provisioning and dependency checking. These tools satisfy an important part of the overall need for greater Linux manageability.

Once the Linux server applications are deployed, the dependencies checked and the patches applied, there is an ongoing need to provide Systems Administrators with an intuitive and powerful way to make configuration changes to the services running on their Linux servers. Until the introduction of NetDirector, Linux users have had no centralized, GUI-based configuration management tool with such enterprise-class features as the ability to group distributed servers, apply configuration changes to one server, a group of servers, or all servers simultaneously, schedule changes to occur later and rollback configuration changes if need be.

NetDirector sounds like Webmin, what's the difference?

Webmin is a great tool for simple networks, but any change made with Webmin can only be made to one server at a time. In larger and more complex networks, when a change must be made to multiple servers, as with clusters or with regional/global configuration changes, NetDirector provides the ability to make changes to multiple servers simultaneously. In addition, NetDirector provides a suite of enterprise class features, like granular rollback, change scheduling, logging, and detailed role-based login.

Why do I need this when I can just use a script, or cfengine to push a change out to multiple servers?

Some experienced Linux/Unix Administrators write custom scripts or use tools like cfengine to lessen the time required to make changes across multiple servers. While this approach can work, it is not an option for less experienced Linux Administrators, or Administrators used to managing services through GUI-based tools. Another downside to scripts is that, unless the scripts are well documented and widely understood across the company's IT department, then the very scripts designed to make IT's job easier can become a major operational disruption if/when the Admin that wrote them leaves the company, gets sick, or goes on vacation. In addition, while scripts can be very useful for the Sys Admins that write and use them, they don't provide IT management with the auditing, control or rollback capabilities that are becoming increasingly important.

My company moved to Linux to save money, why should I pay for systems management?

NetDirector is available for free from SourceForge, and optional annual maintenance and support fees for are priced to overwhelmingly preserve the ROI of Linux.

What are the components of NetDirector?

NetDirector has three primary components: Server Agents that reside on each server under management and are responsible for receiving and implementing configuration changes, a Server Manager that maintains status of each Server Agent and receives and relays user commands for configuration changes, and a highly intuitive Graphical User Interface, or GUI, that allows the grouping of servers according to virtually any organizational criteria (e.g. geography, service, or workgroup) and the simultaneous editing of configurations across any number of servers and/or groups of servers. Communication between the Agent and Server Manger is secured by encrypting the conversations with SSL.

What Hardware and Distributions are supported?

Red Hat (RHEL and Fedora), SuSE, Ubuntu, Mandriva, CentOS, TurboLinux and Debian on IBM's entire eServer line (Mainframes to OpenPower) and all x86 Hardware.  NetDirector also supports Solaris 8, 9, 10 and OpenSolaris on x86 and Sparc hardware.