Introducing a management software with ping function

[kapa786534]

Hi there,

 

I've developed a software application that utilizes the Ping command to help you check whether the computers you manage on your network are connected and in operation.

 

What makes it special is that it presents the results of continuous monitoring over a period in a calendar format. This helps you identify whether each computer's online status follows a certain pattern.

 

For instance, have you ever wondered why a computer that should be online during weekdays suddenly isn't?

Or why a computer that's supposed to stay offline during the weekend has a record of being online?

 

Furthermore,

this is a portable, green software, which means it doesn't require installation.

You can find the download link (hosted on Google Drive) and the official instructions page here:

[Download] [Official Page].

If you have any suggestions for improving its usability, please feel free to share them with me.

Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

 

I'd like to apologize in advance if recommending this software violates any rules or guidelines.

If there are any issues, kindly let me know, and I will promptly remove this post.

 

Thank you!

Edited October 12, 2023 by kapa786534

[Roberto]

The only thing ping tests is whether or not ping is working, which is very basic and provides no real information about whether or not your target device is actually available for the service it is supposed to be performing. I hate to be rude but ping monitoring isn't really that useful in 2023. Edited October 12, 2023 by Roberto

[localzuk]

I have to agree with @Roberto a little. Ping testing is fairly limited, as in most cases of things being "down" in my experience, they still respond to pings, but the services running on them are offline. So, a more robust solution like Zabbix, Nagios or The Dude is needed.

 

I imagine a ping monitor would be OK for monitoring if a connection is up or down though - I use them for that on our network (if one of our sites stops responding to ping, it indicates something is up), but even then I also run bandwidth tests as well, as the line may be up but running like a snail.

[johnfermor]

I see the value in this (PING over time will show patterns of device activity) but you should really state that it isn't free and requires a license. Edited December 6, 2023 by johnfermor

[Rob_D]

I could see this being part of the "system status dashboard" type thing most departments seem to have.

We've got a homebrew thing running in the techs' office that flashes red if any of the servers or switches stop pinging, although normally the teachers are much quicker notification service that something's down.

[johnfermor]

Yeah, I rolled my own too. Have it running on a screen in my office.

 

 

In its simplest form it is a registry of all Windows devices and follows them from adoption to disposal in our organization.

 

But is much, much more..

 

You can determine whether devices are ON or OFF owing to the colour of the icon next to the device. You can also weed out devices that haven't been used for some time. The app shows a number of columns such as device name, make, model, asset info, serial number (clicking on that will take you to manufacturers support site where you can CTRL+V the serial number to discover warranty info and drivers), ram, CPU, boot drive information, Windows activation, antivirus, etc. You can sort by column (the default column is 'Last Seen' so devices appear on top of the list as they are switched ON in the morning.)

 

You can categorize devices and these are show in different colours in the list (things like "PAT Tested", "Faulty", "On Loan", etc.) Remote Shutdown and WOL are available (still working on WOL)

 

Each device can be clicked on and you can view its properties. The properties shown include hardware, software, drive information, associated documents (you can drop *any* device-related information in here) and each device has a timeline (or Outlook-style calendar) where you can manually add important events (such as "Sent for Repairs", etc.) The device agent (which runs from a network share at startup) also generates these events so things like "Device Renamed" are added automatically. Also changes in RAM, BIOS updates and potentially other important changes are automatically added to the device timeline.

 

You can do RDP connections to devices. Devices also have an auto-generated QR code. I print these out with a label printer and stick them on the device for easy recognition (you specify what fields you want on the QR code). These can be scanned with your phone.

 

I can also run remote tasks against 1 or more devices such as "Backup Bitlocker Key", "Harvest Drivers", "Remote Activate Windows", "Activate Office", etc.

 

Finally, you can easily print the directory - A3 listings with your choice of column headers so you can print an asset list or a full-blown list .

 

Have it running on an old DFE laptop! Probably the best use case of these!

 

Its about 95% complete and documentation is about 30%.

 

I'll create a new thread when I complete it. Will be looking for volunteers to test it in the New Year if anyone is interested.

 

John

Edited December 7, 2023 by johnfermor

[jthompson]

Yeah, I rolled my own too. Have it running on a screen in my office.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]70433[/ATTACH]

 

That's impressive work! Reading through your post, I was mentally ticking off the things that I can do using GLPI. I can do a lot of it but not quite everything that yours does. TBH I've never felt the need to have a big screen display in the office though, since I prefer to use browser-based tools that I can just as easily access when away from my desk or on mobile.

[johnfermor]

That's impressive work! Reading through your post, I was mentally ticking off the things that I can do using GLPI. I can do a lot of it but not quite everything that yours does. TBH I've never felt the need to have a big screen display in the office though, since I prefer to use browser-based tools that I can just as easily access when away from my desk or on mobile.

 

Actually the touch is a bit hit'n'miss on the display (it was donated to the school) but I can connect to it remotely and control it with mouse and keyboard. Its great seeing what users are in (they appear at the top of the list when starting up) . I am thinking of adding the username; but that's another story. The bottom of the screen shows network utilization (how may stations are UP as a percentage of the total).

 

You can also add other scripts yourself (they are just BAT files). I use it on a daily basis for all sorts of tasks now. Lately, is fixing Spotify which the pupils are allowed but it insists on downloading an update\install that it can't complete (no perms) - then goes into a loop and won't progress or allow them to use old\current version. I just run my "Fix Spotify" script against the station and it fixes it.

Edited December 7, 2023 by johnfermor

[johnfermor]

A screenie..

 

 

 

Oh and it indicates whether the device is encrypted too but I appear to have borked that with a recent update. It IS detected but not reported in the viewer app above. ;-(

Edited December 7, 2023 by johnfermor