Amazon.com: Apple Remote Desktop 3.2 - 10 Managed Systems: Software

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Every Mac computer is easy to use and simple to maintain--thanks to advanced Mac OS X features like Software Update, powerful preferences, and built-in networking. Now with Apple Remote Desktop 3, you can enjoy the same ease of use when you're managing more than one Mac. Whether you're responsible for a small business with a few computers, a midsize creative group, or an educational institution with a network of thousands, Apple Remote Desktop 3 enables you to manage all these computers--all from your own Mac.

Distribute software, provide real-time online help to end users, create detailed software and hardware reports, and automate routine management tasks--all without leaving your desk.

Apple Remote Desktop 3 is a suite of integrated desktop management tools that facilitate a wide range of IT tasks. Using a single affordable product, you can distribute software, control and configure computers, offer live online help and training, run detailed reports, and implement security policies. Because Apple Remote Desktop allows you to work remotely and efficiently, you can accomplish more in less time--without ever needing to leave your desk and often without interrupting your users.

What's New in Apple Remote Desktop 3
Built to leverage the powerful capabilities in Mac OS X Tiger, the world's most advanced operating system, Apple Remote Desktop 3 offers more than 50 new features for managing networked Mac OS X systems. These include:

Remote Spotlight search. With the revolutionary Spotlight technology in Mac OS X Tiger, you can perform lightning-fast searches on remote systems. Summary results for each client are updated instantly as results are returned. Administrators can view details or refine searches further using additional qualifiers on different types ofmetadata. Results can be viewed on remote client systems, copied back to the administrator system, or deleted.
Remote Desktop widget. This new Dashboard widget provides you with instantaneous, at-a-glance views of remote computers in your system. The Remote Desktop widget is fully integrated with the computer lists that you've defined in Apple Remote Desktop.
Automator actions. Apple Remote Desktop 3 includes more than 30 Automator actions. Administrators can chain actions together to create powerful system administration workflows. Save your Automator workflows as plug-ins to provide an easy, customized interface to Apple Remote Desktop capabilities.
Remote Drag and Drop. Transfer files between two computers easily by dropping a file or folder from your computer onto a remotely controlled computer--or from a remote computer onto your own.
Remote Copy and Paste. Copy and paste information between your local computer and a remote computer.
AutoInstall. With automatic, policy-based installation of software packages, you can stage software to install on remote, mobile, or offline systems. AutoInstall is ideal for distributing software to mobile computers.
Power Copy. A new file copy engine uses multicast technology and supports 64-bit file sizes, network bandwidth limits, and optional encryption of data streams. A new permissions editor can specify the user and group ownership permissions of a copied file on a remote computer.
Curtain Mode. When controlling a remote computer, administrators can now choose to block the remote user's view of the desktop with a virtual "curtain."
User History report. Administrators can find out which users have logged in to which computers on their network, making it easy to monitor networks for unauthorized computer use.
Application Usage report. Administrators can view details on which applications have been used on remote systems, ensuring compliance with software licenses.
Task Templates. Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to save task settings as templates for later use. The Task Template menu comes populated with more than 30 sample UNIX scripts. It's also easy to add your own favorites to the list for convenient access.

Software Distribution
Apple Remote Desktop 3 is an ideal solution for installing or upgrading software across multiple Mac systems. Whether it's a new version of Mac OS X or a suite of applications, it's easy to keep all of your computers up to date--without interrupting your users or requiring any user interaction. Users don't even need to be logged in. And with the new AutoInstall feature, administrators can initiate a software installation and let Apple Remote Desktop 3 take care of the rest.

Network Copy Performance
Apple Remote Desktop 3 performs copy operations up to 11 times faster than its predecessor, Apple Remote Desktop 2.2, with best performance over a Gigabit Ethernet network.

Installing Software
Use the Install Packages task pane to choose the software you wish to distribute. If you have more than one package to install, you don't have to wait for one installation to finish before starting the next one: Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to specify multiple applications for successive installation.

Apple Remote Desktop tasks can be executed immediately, scheduled to run at a specified date and time, or saved for future execution.

Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to view a list of your previously executed tasks, as far back as you choose.

AutoInstall
Ideal for managing mobile computers, this new feature enables automatic, policy-based installation of software packages on remote systems. Start by using Apple Remote Desktop 3 to set up a list of target computers, whether they're offline or on the network, for software installation or update. With AutoInstall, you can copy the install package to a Task Server, which will attempt to contact the target computers. If the computers are on the network, the Task Server can execute the installation immediately. For offline clients, the Task Server holds the package and installs it automatically as soon as a target computer connects to the network, keeping track of which computers have had the software successfully installed.

After installation, your installer files are deleted from the client system automatically. Apple Remote Desktop can even restart the client system remotely. Software installations can be deployed immediately or scheduled for a later date and time--for example, when network traffic is low or when users are typically away from their computers.

For applications that require only drag-and-drop installation, you can use the File Copy feature for software distribution. File Copy is also useful for distributing files and folders, such as fonts and configuration files, to an exact location in the client's hard drive.

Asset Management
As an administrator or support professional, you need to keep track of the configuration of Mac systems in your organization. Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to collect information on more than 200 hardware and software attributes, including memory, CPU, the version of the operating system, and hard disk size. This critical data can help you assess your organization's readiness for operating system or application updates and determine whether any additional software or hardware is needed for the migration. It's also valuable for help desk professionals to have configuration details on systems that are experiencing problems.

With the new Spotlight search capability, you can quickly search remote computers and copy the results back to the administrator computer--or delete them entirely. Also new are User History and Application Usage reports that provide specific information to help you monitor software compliance and the security of your systems.

Remote Spotlight Search
Apple Remote Desktop 3 extends the revolutionary Spotlight technology in Mac OS X Tiger, so administrators can perform comprehensive, lightning-fast searches not only on their own computer, but on any Mac on the network. Whether you're looking for a file, application, or image, Spotlight can find it. Results are returned instantly--from the first letter you type--and updated continuously with no lag times or slowdowns. You can refine searches using different metadata types or additional qualifying filters. With Apple Remote Desktop 3, administrators can display the search results on remote systems, copy results back to their own computer, or simply delete them.

Usage Reports
The new User History report gives detailed information on who is using a computer, when they logged in and out, and how they accessed the computer. The Application Usage report details which applications have been used on remote systems, including the number of launches of an application, the duration of the launch, and who executed the launch. Administrators can use this report to ensure compliance with their software license agreements and to discover any unauthorized use of applications.

Install Packages task pane.

Whether you're looking for a file, application, or image, Spotlight can find it.

Hardware Reports
Hardware reports cover details on hard drives, network interfaces, memory, USB and FireWire devices, and PCI cards.

System Overview. This report provides information about a client's processor and memory, system software, AirPort setup, attached devices, displays, network settings, Lights Out Management configurations, system preferences, printer lists, and key software attributes. The report can be used to identify problems, verify system configurations before installing new software, or determine how many devices of a particular type, such as scanners, are being used in a particular lab.
Storage. Information about the client's internal hard disks includes the hardware itself, the volumes on the disk, file system information, and journaling information.
Network Interfaces. This report provides information for all active and inactive network interfaces, including detailed network input, network output, and Ethernet statistics from the client computer. Use this information to identify network errors or faulty network equipment, troubleshoot network performance, and query the network settings of client computers.
Memory. Specific information about the memory (RAM) installed in the client system includes each memory module's size, type, speed, and slot location. Memory reports can be used to manage computer resources, troubleshoot hardware, or determine which client computer can best handle a memory-intensive application or task.
FireWire Devices. Information on FireWire devices connected to the client computer includes the manufacturer, model, speed, software version, and firmware version for each device.
USB Devices. Information on Universal Serial Bus devices connected to the client computer includes product name and ID, vendor name and ID, speed, and bus power for each device.
PCI Cards. This report provides specific information about the PCI cards--such as card name, type, and vendor ID--installed in a client computer, as well as the card's slot location.
Network Performance. This test measures and troubleshoots the communication between client computers and the administrator system. Use the report to help identify reasons for network communication problems that could affect Apple Remote
Desktop. For example, if there are issues copying items to a particular client computer, the Network Performance report can isolate the problem to a particular cable or hub.
Administration Settings. This report shows which Apple Remote Desktop 3 administration privileges are enabled or disabled. These privileges can also be found in the Sharing or Remote Desktop pane of System Preferences on individual client computers.

Reporting Using Task Server
You can use a computer other than the administrator computer to collect reporting data on an automated basis. By using a computer as a Task Server, you can always be ready for client computers to send their reporting information--while freeing up the administrator computer for other management tasks.

Software Reports
In addition to Spotlight search, Apple Remote Desktop 3 includes three types of software reports that provide details on file system attributes and installed application versions, as well as the results of its powerful file search capabilities.

File Search. Specific information about files and folders on client systems allows you to audit installed applications. For example, to check compliance with license agreements, you can identify how many copies of a particular application are in use. You can also use File Search to search by file size, helping you identify large files and applications that may be taking up too much space on the hard drive.
Software Version. Use this report to make sure that users have the latest and most appropriate application versions for their systems.
Software Difference. This report can help you detect application versions that are out of date, nonstandard, or otherwise unacceptable--or learn whether a user has installed an unauthorized application.

Remote Administration
New in Apple Remote Desktop 3, you can save task settings as templates in the Task Template menu, making it easy to apply them at a later time. For the Send UNIX task, the Task Template menu comes populated with more than 30 sample scripts--just add your favorites to the list for convenient access. You can use more than a dozen commands securely on one or more remote Mac OS X client systems, including:

Sleep, wake, restart, and shut down
Power on computers that feature Lights Out Management
Log out users
Open files and applications
Empty Trash
Lock and unlock screens with a custom or default image
Rename computers, with the option of adding unique numbers
Set startup disk
Send and execute remote shell scripts or UNIX commands

With all Apple Remote Desktop commands, you can schedule tasks for a future date and time, choose a frequency for repeating the tasks, or save them--complete with current configuration and target computers--for later use.

Designate the startup disk of client systems from your own computer.

Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to observe and control remote Mac OS X systems from anywhere on the network.

Remote Shell Scripts
Thanks to the UNIX-based foundation of Mac OS X and a rich set of command-line tools, Apple Remote Desktop enables you to execute UNIX shell scripts and commands on multiple remote client systems and get feedback on their success or failure. This powerful capability gives you unlimited flexibility to accomplish system maintenance tasks--even if there is no explicit Apple Remote Desktop command for the task. What's more, Apple Remote Desktop includes two command-line tools--systemsetup and networksetup--that can set the Network, Energy Saver, and Date & Time system preferences. The Remote Shell Scripts command also benefits from the new Task Template feature in Apple Remote Desktop 3.

Remote Boot Disk Selection
Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to designate the startup disk of client systems from your own computer. This feature enables you to set any number of Mac computers to start up from a NetBoot or Network Install image or from a specific partition on the local hard drive--especially useful for deploying a standard desktop configuration across multiple systems, whether in classrooms, computer labs, kiosks, or compute clusters. After selecting the boot disk, you set the systems to restart immediately or at a later date and time. There's no need to travel from location to location configuring each system individually.

Remote Assistance
With powerful screen-sharing and text-messaging capabilities, Apple Remote Desktop 3 makes it easy to provide thorough technical assistance to the computer users in your organization. Observe and control one or many remote Mac OS X systems. Apple Remote Desktop 3 uses the Virtual Network Computing (VNC) standard--which means it's also possible to observe and control VNC-enabled Windows, Linux, and UNIX systems. New remote assistance capabilities, such as drag and drop and copy and paste, make interacting with client computers even easier. And when you're configuring sensitive information on remote systems, Curtain Mode provides an added degree of privacy.

Observe and Control
Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to observe and control remote Mac OS X systems from anywhere on the network. Each observe and control window includes a toolbar for adjusting the color depth of the remote screen; a screen capture button allows you to take snapshots of the remote screen. Toggle buttons let you switch between observe and control modes, sharing control and taking complete control of the mouse and keyboard, and fit-in-window and full-screen modes. With the fit-in-window mode, you can scale your view of the remote screen to fit your control window. Resizing the screen in your window also resizes the client screen. By scaling down the screen--and, as a result, transmitting less data--you can achieve better performance over slower network connections.

Apple Remote Desktop 3 also lets you control computers that have multiple displays attached. You can choose to view all the displays in one virtual window or to view only one display at a time.

Remote Drag and Drop
Now it's easy to transfer files and folders between two computers. With the new Remote Drag and Drop feature, you can simply drag and drop a file or folder from your computer to a remotely controlled computer--or from a remote computer to your own.

Remote Copy and Paste
You can move text or images easily by copying and pasting them from your local computer to a remote computer.

Curtain Mode
Apple Remote Desktop 3 allows you to block the remote user's view of the desktop with a virtual "curtain." This gives administrators additional security when configuring sensitive information.

Multi-Observe with System Status Indicators
With Apple Remote Desktop 3, you can observe up to 50 screens simultaneously, so you quickly understand what's happening on your network. The multi-observe window allows you to specify the number of remote computer screens to display in one window. If you have more computers on your network than you wish to view in the multi-observe window, you can page through their screens based on an adjustable timer setting. As with the control and observe windows, you can specify the color depth at which the remote screens are displayed.

New in Apple Remote Desktop 3 are system status indicators (SSIs) that provide at-a-glance information about the computers in your network. Under each screen, you'll see the name of the computer, the name of the current user, and the user's account picture. Red, yellow, and green indicators show the status of the computer. (Users who are color-blind can choose shapes to indicate status.) Click the indicator light to get details on available disk space, memory utilization, and CPU utilization.

Screen Sharing and Text Messaging
Apple Remote Desktop 3 enables you to select one or multiple Mac screens and share them with other Mac OS X systems. This feature is useful for demonstrating specific tasks or for training a group of computer users. Two-way text messaging allows you to broadcast text messages to one or more Mac OS X systems or to initiate private, real-time computer-to-computer text chat. With text messaging enabled, client users can also initiate text communications to request assistance from their administrator or help desk.

Automation
Apple Remote Desktop 3 includes more than 30 Automator actions, making it quick and easy to accomplish time-consuming, repetitive manual tasks.

Automator Workflows
With Automator and Apple Remote Desktop 3, it's easy to create custom administration workflows by chaining together individual actions. You can save these workflows as self-running applications, droplets, or plug-ins that can be accessed in an instant through Script Menu--whenever you need them.

For example, you may need to configure a new batch of systems all at once: setting a corporate desktop, turning on remote access, setting Finder preferences such as Energy Saver settings, changing the time zone, and syncing the time to the corporate time server. By creating and saving a plug-in that accomplishes all these tasks in exactly the same way every time, you can streamline the process of configuring any new system.

Once you've created a desktop management workflow, you can easily share it with less technical people in your organization. Teachers can use Automator actions and plug-ins to manage their classroom systems--for example, adjusting the volume on a computer or locking a screen--without needing to know anything about Apple Remote Desktop. This allows you to extend the power of Apple Remote Desktop and ensure consistent system administration standards across your organization.

Product Description

Apple Remote Desktop is the best way to manage the Mac computers on your network. Distribute software, provide real-time online help to end users, create detailed software and hardware reports, and automate routine management tasks ¿ all without leaving your desk. Featuring Automator actions, Remote Spotlight search, and a new Dashboard widget, Apple Remote Desktop makes your job easier than ever.