Argon Technology Corporation has released the latest version of their popular Client Management Services (CMS) network booting software. CMS v1.20 includes many new features to help corporate IT departments lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), while increasing system availability and enterprise productivity.
CMS provides network administrators with tools to effectively manage client PCs, servers, laptops, embedded systems and other networked devices from a central location. The CMS OS Deployment wizard allows you to automate your Windows 2000/XP or Windows 2003 operating systems. CMS also supports on-demand or scheduled remote wake-up allowing you to schedule these tasks for after-hours when network traffic is low.
The new release provides better support for routed systems, and adds support for an even wider range of network adapters.
"The original release required a dedicated CMS PXE server on each subnet of a routed network," says Basat Khalifa, Argon's President. "Version 1.20 lets them use a single server to support all subnets. That simplifies configuration and greatly reduces the time spent on administration."
To boot from the network, client devices must comply with the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) standard. Since older PCs and most laptops might not be PXE compliant, CMS contains a Client Boot Disk creator that enables these devices to perform a PXE network boot also.
"The original CMS Client Boot Floppy generator already supported the widest range of network adapters in the industry," says Argon's senior technical analyst, Conrad Lawes. "Now we support Intel and Broadcom Gigabit adapters, PC Cards as well as most USB v1.1 network adapters. That takes care of most legacy laptops and desktops."
Since CMS v1.20 also supports VMWare 4.x, users can now use it to deploy all their Windows(R) guest OSs. VMWare Workstation runs multiple operating systems -- including Windows, Linux, and Novell NetWare -- simultaneously on a single PC in fully networked, portable virtual machines. CMS can be installed on the same computer running VMWare.
"Another new feature," Lawes adds, "is the option to hardcode the IP address of CMS PXE Boot Server on the PXE boot floppy. So, if you're running multiple CMS PXE Boot Servers, you can specify which one the client PCs will boot from, or set priority among servers. This allows LAN administrators to balance server load and manage network traffic."
Argon Technology provides network booting solutions. The company's Boot ROM technology supports all leading manufactures of networking ASICs and add in cards, as well as desktop management applications.