MagniComp(tm)'s SysInfo(tm) 5.0-beta1

NEW PLATFORM SUPPORT

SysInfo now supports Apple's Mac OS X platform, the #1 request by customers for new platform support. All Apple systems which support MacOS X are supported.

NEW FEATURES

The SysInfo 5.0 release is focused on expanding SysInfo further into enterprise customer environments. The new SysInfo Service Protocol (SSP) for remote access significantly expand the ability of SysInfo to be deployed and accessed in large, dispersed environments. The major architectural changes in this release are the foundation for many of the new features in this release as well as providing the building blocks for future development.

The major new features are:

• Remote SysInfo access has been added. The new mcsysinfod(8) agent implements the new SysInfo Service Protocol (SSP). This agent allows a remote system to obtain SysInfo data over an IP connection. The Command Line Interface accepts the new --host hostname option to obtain SysInfo data via SSP from hostname rather than direct from the local system. The Graphical User Interface has a new Show Host button which does the equivalent.
• Major internal architectural changes have been implemented to support the new Remote SysInfo access feature and future expandability. In particuliar, SysInfo has been split into a low level SysInfo Engine (SIE) and an upper level presentation layer. The SIE layer probes the local system and presents the raw data to the presentation layer or to the mcsysinfod(8) server which passes the data on to the presentation layer. The SIE layer is essentially the same stable mature code base as in previous releases. The presentation layer is a complete rewrite in perl. The report format remains unchanged except for additional fields and data classes. Other formats may have subtle differences.
• The Network Information class has been added. This new data class provides information on general network configuration including DNS and NIS.
• The Network Interface class has been added. This class provides highly detailed information about all detected network interfaces, both physical as well as virtual. Information includes IP address, subnet mask, network number, interface configuration flags, and link media status.
• The License class has been added. This class provides detailed information about licenses found on the scanned system. Currently we support licenses provided by Macrovision's FLEXlm. We report licenses provided by FLEXlm server(s) running on the scanned system.
• Distribution and installation of SysInfo has been revamped. There are now multiple SysInfo product downloads for each platform and each product consists of one or more packages which can be selected or deselected for installation. The main difference in product downloads is to seperate the SysInfo Software Developers Kit (SDK) files from the runtime files since most customers don't need the SDK.
• Caching has been added to cache most class and license data. This significantly improves runtime performance when the same data is repeatedly requested.
• More than 2500 devices have been added to our PCI device database. We now have over 11,000 entries.

Please see the Release Notes at http://www.magnicomp.com/sysinfo/5.0/doc/RELEASE_NOTES.html for more details.

DOWNLOAD

You can download SysInfo 5.0-beta1 as a free, 60-day demo. During the demo period full functionality is provided. You will be able to purchase (or obtain free permanent licenses if you have maintenance) permanent licenses no later than the 5.0 FINAL release which is scheduled for 6/30/03.

To download, please visit:

	http://www.magnicomp.com/cgi-bin/mcdownload.cgi

INSTALLATION

Instructions on how to install SysInfo are available as:

 	http://www.magnicomp.com/sysinfo/5.0/INSTALL.html

FEEDBACK

We want to here from you! During the demo period, please report any problems and/or questions you might have via email to sysinfo-beta@magnicomp.com. We are interested in both positive and negative experiences. When reporting a problem, please include the output from sysinfo --nw --debug

Have a suggestion for a new feature? Drop us an email at sysinfo-feedback@magnicomp.com.

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