Early-Warning Utility Lets You Dodge Hard Disk Crashes Desktop/Server Tool Works Automatically in Background Eric Grevstad
Mon 5/6/02 -- They get faster, bigger, and better all the time, but hard disks still -- inevitably -- crash. When they do, you often lose data and money. In fact, Executive Software International claims businesses lose $5 billion each year to hard disk failures -- and points out that it’s a lot easier to replace a drive that’s about to fail than to deal with a downtime emergency.
That’s where Executive’s new DiskAlert 2.0 for Windows NT, 2000, and XP comes in: Running transparently in the background with zero administration and taking almost zero system resources, the disk-monitoring utility automates the task of detecting and evaluating signs of impending disk failure. It alerts PC users and network managers by screen pop-up, e-mail, or pager or phone before a crash happens.
Compatible with SCSI and IDE disks and with software RAID and most hardware RAID controllers, DiskAlert 2.0 also warns if disks get too full (free space falls below a user-defined threshold). It deploys across a network in minutes, installing and letting managers monitor all disks from a central console.
The desktop version of DiskAlert is $45; the administrator edition is $260. Network server setups require one desktop or laptop license per PC, plus one administrator license per server.
