Elad Schreiber, Product Manager for GFI Cloud, talks about the latest release and the addition of remote administration tools to the Monitoring feature.
Q: Tell us about the latest GFI Cloud release?
This release sees further enhancements to GFI Cloud’s Monitoring service with the introduction of a set of remote administration tools. Command Line, Process Manager and PowerShell command line will be familiar tools for most of our customers, and by incorporating these into the GFI Cloud platform they will now be able to use these tools remotely, from the same online console as the rest of their GFI Cloud services.
Q: Sounds great, so how will it help IT admins?
We know that IT admins are facing huge challenges managing multiple locations and on-the-move workforces. These new remote tools enable IT admins to remotely administer PCs, laptops and servers without disrupting end users. There is no need to physically be in front of a machine to run diagnostics; this eliminates travel time and expenses to visit different sites or locations – which means IT admins also save time.
Additionally, you can use the remote tools feature to work on computers while your end users are still working. Thus, there is no need for them to stop working while you fix their computers.
Q: How do I access these remote tools?
The new remote tools are accessed via the online GFI Cloud console. When investigating a device in the Cloud console, click on the remote tools from the Monitoring section for that device, and you can quickly get started using any of the new tools.
The remote tools features will automatically be released to all GFI Cloud Monitoring customers. For anyone who doesn’t have the Monitoring service turned on, a free trial can be started from within the console; end users can login and enable across all their devices.
Q: Isn’t the Command Line dead?
Far from it. The command line gives you a remote command prompt to run commands, processes and utilities or remote PCs. This type of interface can be much faster than any other type of interface and it uses a lot less memory and processing power. Its main benefit is flexibility, in that a single command can be executed with a variety of arguments. Also, you can control many more aspects of your computer than with a normal graphical user interface; including actions that are not normally presented to you in the standard user interface.
Q: Will I now be able to run scripts?
Command line commands and arguments can also be used to create scripts. You can script a series of events and save them to a single executable file. This file can be downloaded by a particular device and, in future, you simply execute the script for all events to play out as scripted. The PowerShell tool provides you with a command line interface to run Microsoft PowerShell scripts. PowerShell is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft that also supports your organization’s current scripts such as .vbs, .bat, .pert and more.
Q: How does this work with the other GFI Cloud services?
All GFI Cloud services work together seamlessly, providing comprehensive security and management for networks. Monitoring, antivirus, patch management, web protection, asset tracking and remote control are managed from GFI Cloud’s single online console. It’s easy to deploy and control services across an entire network, no matter where the end points are located.
Still managing your network the hard way? Simplify your IT management with a centralized console for your essential services: antivirus, monitoring, patch management, remote control, web protection and asset tracking. Try GFI Cloud free for 30 days today.
