Question:

Can you tell me about the network(s) you administer with AA? How many users in how many locations, what mix of OS's, what kinds of users you support, what kinds of servers are you running?

Answer:

My company, Morris, Johnson & Associates (MJA), is a business unit of Birdsall Services Group (BSG). BSG is a collection of five engineering firms that have joined forces through a series of mergers and acquisitions. Altogether, we are about 450 people in about ten sites in NJ, although the vast majority of us are housed in three major sites. We do engineering design work in several disciplines including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, civil, environmental, and structural. You can learn more about us at www.birdsall.com.

Our network is pure Microsoft with a Server 2003 AD infrastructure and file and application servers running under Server 2003 as well. We use Exchange Server 2003 for email and calendaring. We have an Exchange Server at each of our major three sites with a mail security server ahead of each one. We have various mobility solutions including Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and even a few iPhones now.

We have some SQL applications. Our two biggest are our accounting system and our CRM. We have approximately 45 servers altogether.

Data is still direct attached and we use traditional tape for backup. We are exploring network storage solutions such as NAS or SAN. We have not really gotten started with virtualization as of yet.

Our primary desktop applications include MS Office and AutoCAD and other vertical market CAD applications from Autodesk. Users range from Administrative Assistants to engineers and CAD operators. We also have accounting, marketing, HR, and other business management people.

Each site is a separate subnet. Typically, each subnet has at least a Domain Controller and a File Server. A couple of our major sites function as our data centers. We use point-to-point T1s and MPLS to provide connectivity.

Several sites have gone to a Windows-based VoIP phone system.

We utilize Group Policy (GP) for desktop standardization and some software deployment.

Question:

How do you use AA day-to-day? Is there one part of the program you use more than the rest?

Answer:

Here is a typical example of how I might use AA. I recently created a dynamic collection to assist me with spotting machines needing memory upgrades. The collection criteria were machines with under 2 Gig of RAM and running AutoCAD.

I then used AA to see how much RAM was on the machine and in what density, obtained the model/serial number of the CPU, and then I was able to order the necessary RAM without ever opening the computer cases.

Question:

Can you tell me about a time or two AA was particularly helpful?

Answer:

As I mentioned above, I do use Microsoft Group Policy (GP) to deploy software to machines, but there are limitations with GP. GP is limited to MSI-based deployments. Much of the software we use around here isn't MSI though. Many times software must be deployed to limited subsets of computers. I find for targeted rollouts, I can create a dynamic collection based upon some criteria and then push out the software with AA.

Because AA isn't limited to MSIs, I can use it to change local group membership, change local admin passwords, run any silent installer - not simply MSIs. As a command line guy, many times I write an installation batch, and then I call the batch via AA.

One of my favorite features is Wake and Shutdown/Reboot. With several software deployments, I created the network deployment point on my network, created an install script, and went home for the weekend.

On a Sunday morning, I VPN'd in, accessed my AA console, woke all the machines, pushed the software out, forced an inventory of the machines to confirm the install, and then shut down the computers. I did all this without even coming in or interrupting the users! Awesome!

The wake feature is so useful that I've even used it to save time where I was using GP to deploy. Perhaps the GP deployment would make a user wait 10-15 minutes while the system booted and installed. During that time, all the user could do would be to stare at the computer or get a cup of coffee. With AA, I could wake the computers over the weekend, let GP deploy the software, and then shut them down.

Question:

Any big issues you think AA might help you solve in the near future?

Answer:

We are getting ready to deploy Office 2007. We're still running Office 2000. For some strange reason, Microsoft decided that MS Office 2007 should install via scripting and they made it virtually impossible to deploy it via GP. They did, however, provide a very nice means to customize the deployment, and slipstream in service packs, but you'd need a system to push out the script. Furthermore, I found that Outlook 2007 depends upon Windows Desktop Search - not an integral part of XP.

I developed a script that removes Office 2000, installs Office 2007 with SP1 slipstreamed in, and installs Windows Desktop Search. This script works very nicely via AA. I have done about six trial deployments now with AA. This is a pretty heavy deployment too. It takes about 40 minutes for a typical deployment. When it becomes rollout time, I'll probably do it over the weekend using the wake and push method as described above.

Question:

What else should other system administrators know about AA?

Answer:

I also make good use of the monitoring capabilities in AA. I use it to email me when System errors occur in server event logs. I also have several performance counters to alert me on high memory pages, processor, and low disk space, and low RAM. I have the system generate emails and text messages to me on critical errors.

Question:

What does your management think of AA?

Answer:

As for management, well, they are more concerned about financial and business management affairs, and they aren't aware how I do some of the things I do. This is where I think other SMB administrators will really benefit from a tool like AA. It is very reasonably priced for the power it affords, and whereas management and budgets may reject other types of very costly tools that they don't understand, they'd be foolish not to approve the budget for Admin Arsenal.