When the American Diabetes Association (ADA) decided to outsource its network administration and helpdesk functions in July 1998, executives turned to Net-Span Corporation, a nationwide network consulting firm, and Dudley Smith, one of its key administrators. Since then, Smith has managed ADA's 148 network sites in 50 states from the home office in Alexandria, Virginia. When he started, Smith identified the need to enhance network reliability as the primary objective. Yet, with 70 file servers at the larger ADA offices and remote servers at 70 frame-relay sites around the country, Smith knew that achieving this goal would be a huge task.

At the outset, Smith found inconsistencies in NetWare Loadable Modules™ (NLMs™) and software versions across the network and Novell eDirectory on many different servers with out-of-sync partitions and replicas. His first priority was to restore performance and stability to this large NetWare 4.11 network. But Smith didn't have time to ensure enterprise-wide server consistency using hour-intensive, manual methods. With so many sites at remote locations, he simply couldn't justify the resources needed to update each of the association's NetWare servers one server at a time.

Smith found that NetPro's Config Central* provided the most comprehensive solution available, and recommended that ADA purchase the software for its Novell network. After a quick and simple deployment, Config Central enabled Smith to view NLMs on all of ADA's NetWare servers at once, compare them to a master reference, and automatically distribute files to multiple servers from his Virginia office. In addition, Config Central compared both loaded and unloaded NLMs and Support Packs - unlike other programs that display only those that are loaded. Config Central provided valuable information on all file properties, from size and dates to actual data. NetPro's solution also enabled him to create reports quickly and schedule updates during off-peak hours. "I use Config Central to roll out NetWare Support Packs, server updates and small utilities that users don't see, but that have a tremendous impact on the back end of the network," says Smith. "It makes my job a lot easier."

Config Central consists of a Windows* client and several NLMs. Developed for use in today's heterogeneous, distributed networks, the product leverages eDirectory to provide secure user authentication and identification. Config Central is protocol-independent and was built using the cross-platform facilities of the Novell Developer Kit to run on NetWare 3.12, 4.x, and 5.x servers.

The ADA plans to increase its investment in Novell's industry-leading NetWare technology as the association upgrades its servers from NetWare 4.11 to version 5.0 in the near future. The process will begin with a total migration of ADA's national office, and Config Central will be play a significant role in the transition, helping Smith to update and manage ADA's servers with speed and efficiency. "Config Central dramatically improves my ability to configure and manage our NetWare environment," says Smith. "It is the best solution for ongoing network management."

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