Even if we find the right tool at the right time, it is usually a limited version available for download or a paid tool.
Well, Spice Works was one tool I came across and was totally surprised to see the features it offers and still it is totally free. No free trial period, but FREE.
Spice Works is actually not a tool but a set of tools useful to a sys admin. Tools range from helpdesk system, to inventory management - both hardware and software, patch manager, service manager. You can check servers for online / offline status, free hard drive space, runnign services, etc. It has awesome help feature where you can get help from other pros facing similar problems.
To list down the features : -
| Find all the Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs and servers, routers, printers and any other IP-based devices on your network |
| Discover software packages, services, hot fixes, and patches installed on the computers on your network |
| Readily access service tags |
| Acquire the MAC addresses for the computers on your |
| Stay on top of software compliance by knowing how many software licenses you're using relative to how many you've purchased |
| Be proactively alerted to low hard drive capacity, low printer ink and toner, or servers that are offline | |
| Be notified when users install unauthorized software or un-install critical software | |
| Set up email notification to alert you via pager, SMS (text message) or email when a monitor fires | |
| Enter the number of licenses you have for a software package and know if you exceed your allotment - ensuring you stay compliant | |
| Know when someone creates a Windows user account | |
| Keep tabs on out-of-date anti-virus installations |
| Allow your users to create tickets by submitting issues via email or a web portal | ||
| Enable users to view the latest status of their tickets via the help desk web site | ||
| Run a report on all tickets - enabling you to see which hardware or software (or department!) causes you the most problems |
| Compare the configuration of two computers, allowing you to identify differences between the machines, including hardware, software, patches, etc. | |
| Click on the Software tab to see a list of applications, services and hot-fixes installed in your network over the last day, week or month - eliminating unauthorized software from being loaded into your network | |
| Use the DNS tab to see how all your DNS mapping is setup | |
| Browse the network by MAC address to quickly identify devices that don't belong and eliminate un-authorized devices on your network |
| Export reports to PDF or Excel to store them for printing or more analysis | |
| Identify all computers with less than 1GB RAM - expediting the process of knowing which computers need an upgrade | |
| See what computers have a particular software package installed | |
| Create custom reports and save them for future use | |
| Run a report on all open tickets and hone in on important trends | |
| Determine which of your computers are ready to run Microsoft Vista |
Well, so this explains it all.. it is a robust tool set which provides with lot of details and is very useful and time saving. This tool has definitely become one of my best tools recently.
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