NTP Software Releases System Sentinel 5.1 with Fault Tolerance Monitors and Resolves Application and Server Failures.

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

MANCHESTER, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2001

Management Kits integrate with Microsoft Windows NT/2000, Exchange,

SQL Server, IIS, SMS, Lotus/Domino, Citrix MetaFrame,

CA ARCserveIT and Compaq Insight Manager

NTP Software, an innovative leader in network storage, system health monitoring and application infrastructure management technology, today announced that its newest release of System Sentinel(TM) is enhanced with fault tolerance. The fault tolerance features now in System Sentinel make it one of the only application and network health solutions with redundancy built-in to its monitoring and alerting capabilities.

A self-diagnosing and troubleshooting solution which pinpoints internal system and application problems or failures, System Sentinel restarts failed applications and system services, or takes other specified corrective actions. It's fully configurable to follow directions, and provides advanced log management through event filtering, caching and routing of events to various media such as pagers, email, ODBC databases and SNMP traps.

System Sentinel is dedicated to real-time monitoring of

 -- Critical applications (email, e-business, client/server, etc.),  -- Windows NT/2000 event logs, UNIX and Linux SYSLOGs,  -- TCP/IP servers (NT, UNIX and mainframe systems) and devices (workstations, PCs, terminals, network components, hubs, routers and switches). 

System Sentinel uses locally installed agents to collect data on events and then passes on that information in real time to an Event Dispatcher Server (EDS). System Sentinel can also be configured to operate without agents.

System Sentinel monitors locally via installed agents, and remotely via agent-less management. System Sentinel then takes specified corrective actions on the server or device where the problem occurred, and also alerts you to security thresholds, including:

-- Denial of Service (DoS) attacks

-- Internal and external hacker activity

-- File/object access successes and failures

-- Security policy changes

-- Server restarts and shutdowns

-- Log-on/log-off successes and failures

New Enhancement: Out-of-the-Box Fault Tolerance

System Sentinel's built-in fault tolerance ensures that the monitoring and management of a system will continue without interruption if the primary server running System Sentinel should fail. Administrators assign backup servers by priority and if the primary server fails, the first backup will automatically take over -- if that server should also fail, your second backup will then assume the role, and so on.

"Network managers install health monitoring systems to ensure that their networks stay up. Ironically, most network monitoring solutions do nothing to guard against their own vulnerability," says NTP Software's Director of Professional Services Ryan LaPlante. "System Sentinel distinguishes itself in the marketplace by providing automatic failover of its own monitoring systems."

Advanced Application Management Kits (AAMKs)

System Sentinel ships with Advanced Application Management Kits (AAMKs) for the most critical applications and network operating systems. AAMKs are comprised of predefined templates to provide vendor-recommended settings for monitoring applications. When settings are imported into System Sentinel, the preconfigured ASCII log templates, event filters, Service Watcher settings, performance monitoring counters and others immediately begin to monitor and manage the operating system or application. You can use the settings as they are or modify them as needed for your local environment. Current kits include:

-- Microsoft Windows NT

-- Microsoft Windows 2000

-- Microsoft Exchange

-- Lotus Notes/Domino

-- Microsoft SQL Server

-- Citrix MetaFrame

-- Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS)

-- Microsoft Proxy Server

-- Microsoft Systems Manager Server (SMS)

-- CA ARCserveIT

-- Remedy Help Desk

-- Compaq Insight Manager (CIM)

You can build monitoring and management templates for any application.

Enterprise Application Services Extension(TM) (EASE) Technology

System Sentinel also includes Enterprise Application Services Extension (EASE), to provide unified distributed application management for System Sentinel 5.1. EASE enables administrators to manage 1000 servers as if they were only one.

"Other solutions allow you to build a network management hierarchy and call it single-seat administration," said Bruce Backa, president and CEO of NTP Software. "However, only EASE-enabled solutions automatically replicate settings to any licensed server in your hierarchy immediately. With EASE, administrators are able to deploy and manage configurations from one console."

EASE is currently compatible with Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 networks, with future support for Unix.

About NTP Software

NTP Software was founded in 1994 and is based in Manchester, NH. Ranked for the last two years on the Deloitte & Touche "Fast 50" list of the fastest growing technology companies in New England, NTP Software offers professional services and training to rapidly integrate their products in customer environments. They are located on the web at www.ntpsoftware.com and can be reached at (800) 226-2755 or (603) 622-4400, and via e-mail at info@ntpsoftware.com.

Copyright(c)2001, NTP Software. All rights reserved.

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