Re: www.spiceworks.com

well thanks for your input, considering the reviews it's been getting from
other people I think that you might be mistaken but either way this topic is
done.

hope it was of interest to some people.


Cheers,
Dean


<wedor> wrote in message news:eGNGmUZeHHA.4188@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The error from your site is related to adobe flash which I do not have
installed on my system and do not wish to install.

I don't see this as a serious tool but rather another pathetic marketing
attempt which is truly unfortunate.

"Dean Collins" <collins_dean@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4612b05b$0$9935$4c368faf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Wow Wedor I think you have bigger issues than flashing ads - it installed
on my sbs server straight away - as fro my blog crashing your browser
hmmmm

Cheers,
Dean


<wedor> wrote in message news:OecL89hdHHA.3408@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I hated it.

The flashing ads are beyond annoying for anyone who is seriously trying
to do any work.

I could not get it to work correctly either, maybe if you had specific
instructions for installation and configuration in an SBS environment it
would help.

Your blog crashes my browser.

"Dean Collins" <collins_dean@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:46121bec$0$5749$4c368faf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I came across this application last week and have become it's biggest
fan. I posted some info on my blog
http://deancollinsblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/spiceworks-killer-app-for-network.html
but thought I should post it here as well as I'm sure there are some
other SBS network admins that will benefit as well.



Cheers,

Dean









Spiceworks - killer app for network management?

I love how someone can take a look at 3 or 4 different areas of
technology that are well known and well documented and then basically
have an 'ah ha' moment and create something unique no one else have
developed.

These guys really have developed a killer app.




http://www.spiceworks.com/



Inventory Everything on Your Network
Discoverer the Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs and servers, routers,
printers and any other IP-based devices on your network. Gather all of
their relevant technical data plus the software, patches and services
on each machine. Add important data such as the number of licenses you
have, the purchase price and physical location. Keep track of other
assets such as mobile phones and even office furniture. All without
agents. And, all inventory information is stored locally and securely
on your network - so there's no concern about sensitive data flying
across the Internet. Learn More


So whats it all about?



Well basically SpiceWorks is a "Killer App" for network management.
Once you install it on any desktop that has administrator rights to
your network it goes out an 'discovers' things (yep even things like IP
phones and UPS devices).

This is "technology area" number 1 - all of these api's are well known
and have been available for some time but putting them together in a
this format is as far as I know is unique. eg. I've been able to query
my 'machine information' using Speedfan for sometime - however being
able to do this and then collect everything from every computer on one
simple web page for my entire network is fantastic.

Being able to collect MAC addresses or Software licenses in a single
location is worth the price of entry alone. Knowing what the 'free
space' on each of your hardware drives and what your network is doing
normally requires 3 different applications alone.

Technology Area Number 2 - they use Ruby on Rails to deliver a
lightweight highly modifiable interface. ROR isn't new by any means but
more and more I'm seeing it pop up on 'portal' applications that hook
into deeper code underneath in such an elegant way that is pure gold.

Technology Area Number 3 - "Ad Supported Applications", although this
software is working on an internal browser page on your computer behind
a firewall when you access the various web pages you're presented with
advertisements which make the developers money - which enable them to
eat - which enables them to keep coding - which gives us even more
killer features.

Now I've posted more than a few times that I think banner ads are a
waste of money but this is such a targeted defined audience that the
value of this "segment" is extremely valuable for people trying to
target to network administrators. The value of this network grows
exponentially for every new user they have install the application (and
has potential to offer further interactions using the www.Mexuar.com
Corraleta click-to-talk technology but more about this another time).

There are more than a couple of other neat aspects to the application
but that's enough for here, by this stage of the blog you've either
decided to download it or not depending on if your run a network (or
manage people who do).

Shoot me an email or post here with your thoughts.

Cheers,
Dean

http://deancollinsblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/spiceworks-killer-app-for-network.html















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