Quest Strengthens Exchange, Active Directory Tools

Published: May 2, 2007

by Alex Woodie

Checking somebody else's e-mail is a fairly common occurrence. But what happens when the administrative assistant, for example, begins deleting or forwarding sensitive e-mail? Windows server tools maker Quest Software unveiled a new plug-in for its InTrust security and compliance tool last week that tracks and audits all Exchange mailbox activity. The Southern California company also updated Recovery Manager for Active Directory.

Quest's InTrust helps IT administrators by collecting, storing, reporting, and alerting administrators about activities occurring across their servers, databases, firewalls, and Web servers. With the new Plug-in for Exchange, managers can record all "unusual owner and non owner access activity," including which e-mails are read, deleted, and copied, and by whom. It can also track changes made to Exchange configurations and permissions. Quest says it's the first product that can provide such capabilities.

"Business-critical information is sent via e-mail every day, and when misdirected, that information could potentially harm an organization," says Jackson Shaw, senior director of product management for Quest Software. "We can now help customers prevent this type of problem, and also help them meet compliance requirements."

Quest InTrust Plug-in for Exchange 1.0 is available now. Pricing starts at $20 per mailbox. This price also includes the Quest InTrust Plug-in for Active Directory, which is required to use this product.

Quest also unveiled a new release of Recovery Manager for Active Directory, a backup and recovery tool designed to speed the process of recovering damaged Active Directory objects due to application or human error.

With Recovery Manager version 7.6, Quest now provides automated restoration of an entire Active Directory forest to a point in time before the corruption occurred, which the company says should greatly simplify the disaster recovery process.

Shaw says Quest is the first disaster recovery software vendor to offer support for forest-wide recovery. "Our customers need to ensure the availability of their Active Directory 24 by seven," he says.

Even Microsoft applauded the development in Recovery Manager 7.6. John G. Chirapurath, director of identity and access product management at the software giant, says the addition of forest-wide recovery makes Recovery Manager "stronger than ever."

Pricing for Recovery Manager for Active Directory starts at $10 per managed user.

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