News

NetIQ Bolsters Active Directory

• By Scott Bekker
• 01/15/2002

NetIQ is updating its NetIQ Administration Suite to include the new tool. NetIQ also announced on Monday that it is OEMing another established Active Directory tool, FullArmor's FAZAM 2000 group policy management product.

NetIQ's new homegrown technology is called the Directory Security Administrator. It provides a centralized interface to allow security administrators to see Active Directory Access Control Lists (ACLs) so they can search and modify the settings.

"Active Directory's ACL-based security model is powerful, but because it's so extensive, it can be difficult to manage," said NetIQ senior vice president of products Tom Kemp.

The new tool displays permissions associated with objects in the directory, making it easier for administrators to identify and change assigned rights and privileges.

Directory Security Administrator now joins the standard edition of the NetIQ Administration Suite for Windows NT and Windows 2000. Other components are the Directory and Resource Administrator, Exchange Administrator, File Security Administrator and Configuration Assessor.

NetIQ will rebrand the FAZAM 2000 tool as the NetIQ Group Policy Administrator.

The tool deals with Active Directory Group Policy, Microsoft's technology for locking down user desktops and controlling users' access to network resources. FAZAM 2000 or NetIQ Group Policy Administrator helps administrators manage group policies, which are notorious for imposing unintended consequences on users and objects as they spread through a network.

The NetIQ Administration Suite plus NetIQ Group Policy Administrator will be sold as the NetIQ Administration Suite, Advanced Edition.

Both editions are available immediately. Pricing begins at $24 per user for the standard edition and $30 per user for the advanced edition. NetIQ Directory Security Administrator and NetIQ Group Policy Administrator can be purchased separately. Pricing for each starts at $9 per user.

NetIQ got a major credibility lift within the Microsoft ISV community last year when Microsoft chose the San Jose, Calif., company's technology as the foundation for its Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2000.