As a system administrator, you’ve developed your own way of working. This includes the software tools you need to make your work as easy as possible. In our opinion, the following tools should be a standard part of your toolbox.
1. Remote control
To prevent you from having to go to a user’s workspace to solve a computer problem, Microsoft created the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). This is particularly useful now that many of your users spend most of their time working at home. RDP has become the standard for taking over remote computers. And it’s part of Easy Software Deployment: just right-click on a computer and choose Remote Desktop Connection. If you need a few more bells and whistles, TeamViewer is a good alternative, especially if you work on a mixed network with Windows and Mac.
2. Unravelling log files
Nobody likes to read log files, but they are oh-so essential, so you better use a tool that makes it a little easier. Notepad++, for example. This free application encodes the logs with colors for better readability, and it has many other handy features. And of course, you can find Notepad++ in our Package Store.
3. Endpoint management
A good tool for endpoint management is certainly a must in any system administrator’s toolbox. It’s the one tool that brings everything together in a single overview. The ‘one Ring to rule them all’ doesn’t exist yet, so it depends a bit on what type of ‘endpoints’ you need to manage. When it comes to Windows, Easy Software Deployment is the right choice.
4. Automation and scripts
IT people hate doing the same thing more than, say, three times. It’s called automation for a reason, right? Just saying. For Windows, PowerShell is a built-in tool for automating tasks via scripts. And our Package Store contains WinSCP for automating (S)FTP tasks, among other things. It also includes a built-in text editor.
5. Virtual machines
Running virtual machines on a computer can be useful for several reasons. For example, it can be handy if you develop software and want to test it on a specific operating system. Or perhaps you have different operating systems in your organization, and you want to see if certain software can run on all of them. What you need is an application that simulates a computer and on which you can then install an operating system. VMware or Parallels, for example. But if you use Windows Pro or Enterprise, you don’t need to buy anything; you just need to enable Hyper-V.
6. Troubleshooting
Some problems you just can’t quite put your finger on. Then it’s time to pop the hood. Anyone who has been around for a while knows what that means: time for Sysinternals! This collection of tools first appeared in 1996, and they became so popular that Microsoft acquired Winternals Software in 2006. (As usual, Microsoft has a nose for the right acquisitions.) Sysinternals looks deep under the hood at how Windows works (processes, disk and memory activity, and so on) and can give you that one clue that helps you solve a stubborn problem.
7. Update management
Keeping your computer up to date is essential; that’s obvious. At Easy Software Deployment, we are working hard on developing the possibility to distribute Windows updates through our application. Until then, setting up a WSUS server is not a bad idea. At a minimum, you need to configure how and at what times Windows updates should be installed.
And of course, Easy Software Deployment is also part of your essential Windows toolkit. Many of the applications mentioned here are standard in our Package Store, but you obviously don’t want to manually install other software on all the computers you manage.
Interested? Then make an appointment here for a free 30-minute demo.