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Administrative Tools
Extend MOM's Support
NetIQ announced 13 Extended Management Pack (XMP) solutions for Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2000. The XMP solutions extend MOM to provide monitoring capabilities for specific applications and platforms (including SQL Server), provide platform agents to extend MOM to directly manage nonWindows 2000 platforms, and include third-party connectors to integrate MOM with other management products. The XMP solution for Microsoft Applications on Windows NT 4.0 lets you manage your crucial NT applications and includes a complete set of rules for monitoring SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, Internet Information Server (IIS) 4.0, Site Server, and SNA. The XMP Solution for Microsoft Applications on Win2K provides data analytics and reporting functionality for SQL Server 2000, Exchange 2000 Server, and Commerce Server 2000.
The XMP solutions are available for trial download from NetIQ's Web site. Pricing varies based on the XMP solution you select. Contact NetIQ at 408-856-3000, 888-323-6768, or http://www.netiq.com.
Reduce Wasted License Fees
Vector Networks announced LANutil 5.1, a tool for desktop management that lets you record, evaluate, and reduce wasted license fees for underused programs. The software can help you determine which users should and shouldn't have particular software on their PCs. The PC Change History feature is a reporting tool that indicates network changes or individual PC changes. Compatible with SQL Server, Oracle, and Microsoft Access, the SQL Wizard enables customers to define their own custom views on the LANutil database and turns English into an SQL script. Wake on LAN and Wake on WAN support lets you collect data at any time. The Inventory Report Library provides 30 preformatted reports. LANutil also features SQL-driven PC Grouping in the database for easy desktop management.
LANutil 5.1 supports SQL Server 2000 and 7.0. For pricing, contact Vector Networks at 770-622-2850, 800-330-5035, or http://www.vector-networks.com.
Application
Organize Electronic Workflow
MetaCommunications announced Virtual Ticket 4.0, software that expanded from an electronic job ticketing and digital asset management system to an integrated production platform for printing, publishing, and creative development of electronic job tickets. You can use the software as a standalone system, in conjunction with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, or with a production management system. Virtual Ticket's digital asset management system lets you use a drag feature to associate digital assets with production information, as you would have traditionally associated physical transparencies with a job by hand-placing them in the paper job ticket. Virtual Ticket InterSync technology monitors, synchronizes, and catalogs your network's digital assets. You can use this new technology to identify the relationships between directories, files, and production information.
Virtual Ticket 4.0 provides SQL support in MetaScript to let you perform complex SQL queries and operations from within any MetaScript function. The software also uses SQL Server as its database engine and can scale from a few users to hundreds of concurrent users. Pricing starts at $3998 for a base server package and five concurrent users. Contact MetaCommunications at 319-337-8599, 800-771-6382, or http://www.meta-comm.com.
Data Mining
Identify Patterns in Transaction and Click-Stream Data
Exclusive Ore announced XAffinity 3.0, software that identifies affinities or patterns in transaction and click-stream data. XAffinity is one of the first database-enabled data-mining products. You can use SQL to analyze data and place the mining results back into the database so that analysts can browse the rules with standard reporting and OLAP tools. For sequence analysis, XAffinity supports multiple time-period dependencies. The parameterized rule text lets you control text rule formats.
The software integrates with SQL Server 2000, 7.0, and 6.5; Oracle; and Microsoft Access applications. A single end-user license for XAffinity 3.0 is $7200. Contact Exclusive Ore at 215-643-3110 or http://www.exclusiveore.com.
Developer Tool
Analyze Data
FMS announced Total SQL Statistics, software designed for Visual Basic (VB) and Visual Studio .NET developers who use SQL Server. Developers can use the software to integrate advanced numeric routines into their applications. You can add percentiles, frequency distributions, t-tests, confidence intervals, regressions, correlations, one- and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square, nonparametric analysis, and probability functions. The software lets you perform a broad range of statistical analyses directly on data stored in SQL Server.
Total SQL Statistics supports SQL Server 2000 and 7.0 and runs on Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows Me, and Windows 9x systems. The software costs $999 for a single-user license, $2999 for a 5-seat license, and $8999 for a 25-seat license. Contact FMS at 703-356-4700, 866-367-7801, or http://www.fmsinc.com.
Database Administration
Monitor Your Network
Woodstone announced Servers Alive 3.1, network-monitoring software that can monitor any Winsock service, monitor Microsoft Media Server (MMS) streams, ping a host, determine whether a Windows NT service or process is running, check the available disk space on a server, retrieve a URL, and check the status of your database engine, including SQL Server. When the software detects a down condition, it responds with one of various notifications and alerts, including sending you an email message, sending a page with a numeric or alphanumeric warning, executing a program, playing a sound, creating a Web or Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) page, and restarting an NT service.
Servers Alive 3.1 supports SQL Server 2000, 7.0, and 6.5; runs on Windows 2000, NT, and Windows 9x systems; and costs $90 per license. Contact Woodstone at [email protected] or http://www.woodstone.nu.
Monitor and Manage Your Database
Heroix announced Heroix eQ Management Suite, software that lets you monitor all aspects of your database, including availability, performance, status of crucial services, CPU and memory resource utilization, query response time, database storage concerns, and potential data corruption. You can manage the software from any central Windows 2000 or Windows NT platform. Heroix eQ can diagnose and correct problems and archive performance and event data so that you can evaluate hardware and software needs. The Express Wizard management console makes the software easy to learn. The software helps to prevent excessive system resource use or blocking of SQL Server processes. You can monitor for insufficient allocation of space or insufficient free space and excessive size or growth of databases, writable hard disks, and transaction logs.
Heroix eQ Management Suite supports SQL Server 2000, 7.0, and 6.5; DB2; Oracle; and Sybase. For pricing, contact Heroix at 617-527-1550, 800-229-6500, or http://www.heroix.com.
