GoToMyPC
The subscription-service–based GoToMyPC, a unique Pocket PC remote administration tool, uses a miniature version of the Windows desktop. The software uses a combination of ASP Web site software and screen resizing to provide the most Windows-like remote PC administration. Whereas other tools create shortcuts and menus to let you perform common tasks, GoToMyPC lets you use your actual Windows desktop to perform tasks. GoToMyPC succeeds where the Pocket PC Terminal Services client falls short because you can resize the screen from a tiny Scale to fit setting to a fairly readable 50 percent or as much as 400 percent. In addition, to accommodate the horizontal aspect ratio of most Pocket PC screens, GoToMyPC lets you rotate the display 90 degrees.
The results are surprisingly good, albeit small. But even at the Scale-to-fit setting, which Figure 2 shows, you can recognize and manipulate the screen elements (although I recommend that you don't try to do so while you're riding a bus; at such a tiny size, a steady hand is a must). Although you can use a stylus to open menus, click icons, and manipulate desktop items, the performance is a bit slow and you might have to repeat some commands. Executing predefined actions of the Pocket PC–specific remote administration applications is typically faster and more efficient than using desktop tools, but I find that having the desktop tools available on my Pocket PC is useful.
GoToMyPC requires an agent on any system that you want to remotely control, but it doesn't require any special firewall configuration because the host computer polls the central GoToMyPC service every 15 seconds. You have to run the GoToMyPC host application to remotely control a server, but you don't have to stay logged on; the application runs as a service. GoToMyPC operates more like Net Meeting than like Windows 2000 Server Terminal Services because you interactively log on and, unless you instruct GoToMyPC to make the screen blank, other people can walk up to the server and see what you're doing.
iAdmin Mobile
JRB Software's iAdmin Mobile features a familiar and comfortable mobile-client interface that provides easy access to most of the system properties administrators care about. You can check and reset services (as Figure 3 shows); view event logs; manage users, groups, and print queues; start tasks; power-cycle a computer; view shares and files; and use the built-in enterprise administration tools to manage DNS, domains, Microsoft Exchange, and IIS.
The upside of iAdmin Mobile's minimal functionality is that the application requires a remarkably small 2MB of disk space on the management server. Adding the servers that you want to manage to the iAdmin Mobile console requires a cumbersome, one-server-at-a-time approach, but if you manage only a few servers, this limitation might not be a problem.
To connect from a mobile client, you log on one time at the beginning of a session, then use those credentials to remotely access the managed computers. Your logon credentials, as configured on the management server, determine which computers you can connect to and remotely manage.
iAdmin Mobile lets you perform user and group management tasks such as creating users and local and global groups, deleting users or groups, modifying properties, changing group memberships, and resetting user passwords. In addition, iAdmin Mobile lets you view or manage your Exchange, IIS, and non–Active Directory (AD) integrated DNS servers. (Some functions are limited, however—for example, the Exchange Administration command shows only your Exchange server statistics.) You can use iAdmin Mobile to start or stop a Web site and back up the IIS metabase. The Domain Administration command lists domain attributes, such as the domain password policy and Flexible Single-Master Operation (FSMO) roles. Unfortunately, although the application's command-line functionality lets you fire off commands, you can't display returned data. So, for example, you can start notepad .exe on a remote server, but you won't be able to see the results of the Ipconfig command.
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