| File System Factory for Active Directory 2.5 Education Demo
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| File System Factory for Active Directory 2.5 Corporate Demo |
File System Factory for Active Directory
Automate the process of creating, provisioning, moving, managing, and deleting user home folders with event-driven, policy-based user storage management empowered by Active Directory.
The Need for Automated Network User Storage Management
What if you could automate your storage management so that network home folders were created and even provisioned with documents when needed? Moreover, what if home folders could be created, moved, renamed, and deleted according to the role of the user so that specific disk storage and rights were assigned automatically according to associated storage policies?
Instead of dealing with “orphaned home folders” taking up space on your primary storage, what if you could assure that user home folders were being deleted or vaulted to a secondary storage device once a user was deleted from Active Directory?
Introducing File System Factory for Active Directory
File System Factory for Active Directory from Condrey Corporation automates the full lifecycle management of user network storage. Leveraging Microsoft Active Directory, FSF for AD automates a comprehensive set of storage management tasks based on events, identities and event-driven policies that you define. In the process FSF for AD can save you significant time and money.
Identity-driven Policies
Chances are, your organization already has written policies for storage based on user role, rights and properties for home folders, and when to review and delete or vault a user’s home folder after leaving the organization. With FSF for AD policies, these actions are enacted automatically based on events.
For example, when a new user is created in Active Directory, FSF for AD sees the event and looks to a policy to take action. The policy can specify the home folder’s
- Target path location
- Default permissions and home folder properties
- Subfolders and documents to be provisioned by means of templates
- And more
Moving, Role Changes, and Renaming
FSF for AD can even let you set up policies for actions to take when a user changes roles, locations, or names. For example, a movement from one department’s container or group in the Domain to another can generate an event to automatically:
- Move the a user’s home folder and contents to a new specified location
- Ensure that the same file system rights associated with the home folder are moved
- Update the home folder attribute in Active Directory so that the user can access the home folder at the new location
- Remove the home folder from the original location
A rename event in Active Directory can enact a policy to rename the associated user home folder and change the home folder.
Disabling Inactive Users
When dealing with employees who leave an organization, many organizations choose to retain and disable a departing employee’s user object in Active Directory for a specified time, rather than immediately remove it. This practice, however, can result in the home folders of former employees taking up valuable disk space on primary storage devices. With FSF for AD, you can create an Inactive Users policy and associate the policy with an Inactive Users OU or Group in Active Directory. When a disabled user object is moved to the OU or added as a member of the Group covered by the policy, FSF for AD will automatically relocate the user’s data to the secondary storage location and ensure that the former user’s access rights have been revoked.
Deleting Users
It’s all too common for a former employee’s home folder to be taking up valuable storage disk space for months or even years after the employee has left an organization. With FSF for AD, once a user is deleted from Active Directory, you have the option to delete the home folder immediately or defer the action for a set amount of days, or vault it to secondary storage for a set or permanent amount of time.
For example, if employees in an organization work on multiple assignments and store all related files in home folders, the policy can be set so that user folders are not deleted for perhaps 30 days after a user has been removed from Active Directory—which could be sufficient time for the user’s former manager to go through the home folder and reassign files to others. If it is believed that the contents of the home folder won’t be reassigned for weeks or months, the policy can be set to vault the home folder to secondary storage.
Substantial Return on Investment
With event-driven policies continually automating the creation, on-going management, and deletion of user home folders, FSF for AD can save a substantial amount of money over time. Today, the Condrey Corporation technology built into FSF for AD is managing millions of users in hundreds of organizations worldwide, and in the process, saving each organization both money and time over doing these management actions manually.
Microsoft Windows Requirements
The FSF for AD engine can be hosted on a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP2 or later, or Microsoft Windows 2008 SP1 or later. The management software can be run from a Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7 workstation, or Windows server running the .NET Framework 3.5 or later.
File System Factory for Active Directory’s unique approach to enabling automated lifecycle management of user home folders through identities, roles, and Active Directory event-driven policies introduces an extensive set of features and benefits unavailable in other products or custom-developed scripts.
Features
- Event-driven automation of storage tasks
- Policies that you define
- Creates and provisions home folders when users are created
- Sets access rights according to policy
- Updates access rights when a user’s role changes
- Migrates storage transparently
- Disables user storage access for inactive users
- Deletes or vaults home folders when users are deleted
- Support for Windows 2008 Server
Benefits
- Lowers costs by automating tasks that are normally done manually
- Flexibility to define where user home folders are created, what documents are provisioned, by means of templates, within these home folders, what rights are established to these home folders, when and where to vault a removed user’s home folder, and more
- Creates home folders and even populates them with documents according to the role of the user.
- Policies ensure that users are given only the access and access rights to the storage they need
- When a user is moved from one container to another, the old policy is rescinded and the new one is invoked—automatically, based on the move event
- Moving storage from one device to another is as simple as changing a policy path and then initiating the management action
- Through Inactive Users policy, removes access and even migrates home folders of inactive users to secondary storage
- After a user is deleted, disk space on primary storage is freed up by deleting or vaulting the contents of the user home folder to secondary storage
- Helps enforce compliance by enforcing data access and data retention
- Disk storage recycling helps implement a “green” data center approach by automatically recycling disk space
Today, the Condrey Corporation technology built into FSF for AD is managing millions of users in hundreds of organizations worldwide, and in the process, saving each organization both money and time over doing these management tasks manually.
Q: File System Factory was the previous name of a Novell product that was later renamed Novell Storage Manager. Are the Condrey Corporation and Novell products related?
A: File System Factory was first introduced by Condrey Consulting, who trademarked the name the same year. In 2003, Novell placed Condrey Consulting’s File System Factory product on its product price list. This arrangement later led to a notable development and distribution deal where File System Factory was branded as Novell File System Factory and sold through Novell. Condrey Consulting later became Condrey Corporation and File System Factory later became Novell Storage Manager.
From 2002 to 2006, the technology was available only for the Novell eDirectory platform. In 2006, support for the Microsoft Active Directory platform was introduced as a separate version, also available, but not exclusively, through Novell.
Condrey Corporation has chosen to use its trademarked File System Factory name for the Active Directory-supported version of the product that it sells to its customers and partners.
Q: Are File System Factory for Active Directory and Novell Storage Manager for Active Directory essentially built with the same technology then?
A: Yes, with the exception of some minor differences in the user interface.
Q: With the technology available through Novell as Novell Storage Manager for Active Directory, why is Condrey Corporation making the same product available through Condrey Corporation?
A: For a variety of reasons, many customers running a Microsoft network environment cannot purchase the technology through Novell. These customers have both directly and indirectly requested alternative purchasing options for some time now. The business and economic environment we are living in dictates that we both acknowledge and honor these requests.
Q: Is File System Factory for Active Directory available only through direct purchase through Condrey Corporation?
A: No. The product may be purchased and delivered through one of many Condrey Corporation partners and resellers. A list of Condrey Corporation partners and resellers is available here.
Q: Is Condrey Corporation breaking ties with Novell?
A: Absolutely not! Condrey Corporation is firmly committed to our established, strategic, long-term relationship with Novell. We have and will continue to work very closely with Novell engineering to provide world-class software through Novell for many years to come.
Q: Is the eDirectory version of the product available directly to customers outside of Novell too?
A: Not at this time. First and foremost, we are firmly committed to our strategic, long-term relationship with Novell. Secondly, in order to eliminate confusion for Novell customers and possible competitive situations, we are choosing to maintain our choice of making the eDirectory version of the product available through Novell only.
Q: With File System Factory for Active Directory available from Condrey Corporation, why would I want to buy Novell Storage Manager for Active Directory from Novell?
A:There are a number of reasons why it would perhaps be more beneficial for you to purchase the technology through Novell. Here are three of the most compelling:
1. Our plans are to continue to make the eDirectory version of the product available only through Novell. If you have Novell NetWare or Novell Open Enterprise Server-based network storage, you should continue to purchase from Novell.
2. When you buy Novell Storage Manager from Novell, you are entitled to both the eDirectory version and the Active Directory versions of Novell Storage Manager. If you have both eDirectory-based storage (NetWare/Open Enterprise Server) and Active Directory-based storage (Windows), then it makes sense to purchase through Novell to receive licenses to both products.
3. It may be easier for you to purchase Novell Storage Manager through preexisting Novell contracts.
File System Factory for Active Directory is licensed according to the number of users managed by the product. Condrey Corporation offers two purchase options: Subscription and Licensing + Maintenance.
Subscription
Subscription means that the File System Factory for AD software is enabled for one year and includes software maintenance, upgrade protection, and support. Near the end of the subscription cycle, you are notified of the need to renew the subscription in order to continue to use File system Factory for AD. Unless the subscription is renewed, File System Factory for AD will be disabled 13 months after the date that the subscription began.
License + Maintenance
License + Maintenance is File System Factory for AD licenses purchased and owned by the purchasing organization. Maintenance, upgrade protection, and support are included during the first 12 months following the purchase of the licenses. To continue maintenance, upgrade protection, and support after the first 12 months, you must purchase a yearly contract.
Price Quotes and Pricing
For more information click here.
Reseller
We have relationships in place with a number of resellers worldwide and welcome additional relationships. If you are a reseller interested in selling File System Factory for AD click here .
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Size |
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 FSF252-AD Install Guide.pdf |
1,537 KB |
| FSF252-AD-Admin-Guide.pdf |
3,151 KB |
821 KB |
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827 KB |
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430 KB |
File System Factory for Active Directory 2.5
For a 30 Day Evaluation, you may click on the File System Factory License link below to obtain a license now.
Registered users may also download the lastest version below. The same software distribution is used by both registered users and evaluation users. The difference is that as a registered user, you possess a non-expiring license key.
Name
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Size |
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 FSF-2.5.2-ActiveDirectory.exe (MD5 checksum) |
47,055 KB |
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