Columbus Technologies, the South African developer and marketer of systems management software, has launched the latest upgrade to the Columbus Enterprise infrastructure management suite. The new version, Columbus Enterprise 6.10, includes functional as well as usability and performance enhancements to make the suite more user-friendly, while offering a more comprehensive management platform.
Braam van Zyl, CTO at Columbus Technologies, says the changes in the new version start with the installation process, extend to the functionality involved in managing diverse IT infrastructures, and assist in reducing the bandwidth requirements of the software. Version 6.10 also delivers improved support for Intel Active Management Technology (Intel AMT).
"In previous versions, users had to download and install each module separately and install them in the right order," says Van Zyl. "In the new release, all the modules are included in one download, from where the user decides which to install, and the software does the rest."
Columbus's DOS-based pre-boot operating system has also been enhanced, with users now able to use Windows PE (pre-installation environment). Windows PE is a limited 32-bit operating system built on the Windows Vista kernel and is used to prepare computers for a Windows installation.
With Windows PE support, Columbus Enterprise users can now install multiple Windows targets from the same installation server, including Windows 2003 and Windows Vista. Moreover, it supports both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions. Windows PE also delivers advances in network and disk driver support.
Minimise database calls
Columbus has also integrated its MetaCall application into the new version to minimise the number of database calls made by the system. Fewer requests to the database lowers the processing overhead and also results in reduced network bandwidth usage. Van Zyl says this will be of great benefit to companies with many remote sites, or those with limited bandwidth and/or high latency on their networks.
Due to the broad scope of Columbus Enterprise's management operations, the software can be called on to manage hundreds of software packages and thousands of patches simultaneously. In the past this might have resulted in sluggish performance on the central management console. Not any more: the new version has been optimised for use in large environments and the performance boosted to ensure fast response times for companies of all sizes.
Finally, Columbus Enterprise has extended its support for Intel AMT, commonly available as vPro technology. "Customers planning on making full use of the advanced management capabilities inherent in their Intel vPro hardware will be able to do so from the familiar interface of their Columbus Enterprise implementation," notes Van Zyl. "While few companies are yet taking advantage of the management functionality vPro offers, as the acceptance and use of this technology grows, Columbus Enterprise can assist in streamlining the enhanced management of its customers' hardware."
The improvements in Columbus Enterprise enhance the management suite as a standalone implementation, and serve to support the recent enhancements to Columbus Operations Manager 3.1, which saw better support for Microsoft's Active Directory, as well as the inventory, asset, licence and contract management features in Columbus Lifecycle Manager.
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