Three network device management tools strut their stuff

If TND is judged by its stated goal of detecting and managing changes to network device configurations, then it lives up to its billing. But when compared with DeviceAuthority and TrueControl, it doesn’t match up.

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DeviceAuthoritySuite

AlterPoint's DeviceAuthority Suite is a mix of Web and Win32 tools, many of which go beyond network configuration management. DeviceAuthority installs a MySQL MaxDB database, an update tool, and a Web-based auditing and inventory tool, which is delivered by the JBoss app server. Unfortunately, the interface is only compatible with Internet Explorer 5.5 or later.

The inventory tool is fairly well laid out, offering most of the suite’s configuration auditing features. From this interface, it’s possible to manage the device inventory, define events, schedule device scans, view highlighted configuration comparisons, and run reports. You can add devices to the inventory manually or via a wizard, and you can import them en masse via a simple delimited text file with device IP addresses and hostnames or via a CSV file (template provided) that contains additional information about each device such as model, access protocol, and log-in credentials. Finally, you can sort and filter device entries by several variables, including device model, make, status, and user-defined class.

DeviceAuthority offers the broadest device support of all three products I tested. It found and accurately inventoried every device in the lab with the exception of the Dell PowerConnect 3300.

The reporting facilities of DeviceAuthority are fairly complete. There are a handful of stock reports available, such as device configuration changes during the past week and inventory reports by vendor. Custom reports are created via a wizard in PDF, CSV, HTML, text, and XML formats. Reports can be e-mailed to admins on a scheduled basis or can be sent manually.

The remainder of the suite comprises the somewhat ill-named Update Module. Regardless of what the name implies, this tool is in fact a full-fledged network development environment. Modeled on the Eclipse IDE (integrated development environment), Update Module is designed to become the central management interface for the whole network. Some of the features include integrated SSH (Secure Shell) and Telnet clients, a Web browser, and network troubleshooting tools such as PING and traceroute.

Using the Update Module, an administrator can scan the device inventory, select individual devices for management, and define custom scripts for mass device management. In addition to providing a large array of sample scripts, DeviceAuthority can record commands as they are executed and can create an editable script in your choice of Perl, JavaScript, or TCL (Tool Command Language)/Expect. The resulting scripts are clean and easily modified outside of the script-creation tool. In addition to one-off or mass configuration changes, you can deploy mass OS updates from within the Update Module, either on the fly or on a schedule.

DeviceAuthority's inventory and auditing features are solid but could use a hierarchical device list. The Update Module is a unique and impressive tool, offering a standard environment for heterogeneous network administration in a smooth interface.

Rendition’s TrueControl

TrueControl is the most complete solution among the three I tested. Similar to DeviceAuthority, TrueControl relies on a MySQL MaxDB database, but the application interface is wholly Web-based. The front end is devoid of images and utilitarian, but admins can configure the layout to their liking, specifying their core device groups, favorite reports, and display preferences. The interface is compatible with a variety of browsers, including Internet Explorer 5.5 or later, Mozilla, and Safari.

As with the other products, devices can be manually defined, or imported from a CSV file created from a supplied template. Additionally, devices can be imported from Hewlett-Packard's HP OpenView.