Sonic Mobility offers an easy way for network administrators to manage their network servers anytime, and anywhere using their Pocket PCs called sonicadmin.  The concept behind sonicadmin is to allow network administrators to have functionality similar to the Administrative Tools in Windows 2000 server on their Pocket PC.  Of course Sonic Mobility also works with Windows NT servers as well as it has a command line interface for any non-Windows network device that supports Telnet or SSH like Unix, Linux, printers, switches, routers, databases, etc. 

Pocket PC Summit – Hands On Experience

I have personally used sonicadmin to manage the HP Proliant ML-370 server at the Pocket PC Summit.  The HP server was used to provide the local web server and NAT (Network Address Translation) to allow users to access the Internet.  Barry Shilmover, Sonic Mobility’s Chief Technical Evangelist, was kind enough to install sonicadmin on the server the first day I had it installed and it sure came in handy!  During the show, I heard comments from different users about having problems getting a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) assigned IP address.  Well with sonicadmin, I was able to go out and see that the DHCP service was running!  Also, I was able to stop and start it as well right from my Pocket PC.  Later on I figured out that the problem was not the server but the driver that Symbol was installing that was not displaying the assigned IP address for approximately 2 minutes after it had been assigned. I did find out that there were a few things I wish that sonicadmin would add to Sonic Mobility.  Since I was working with DHCP, I was unable to see a list of DHCP clients.   So I had to switch to the cumbersome use of Terminal Services client to view the DHCP client list.  I sure could see why sonicadmin is so much easier to use!  It fits on the screen much better than trying to use a 800 x 600 display with a Pocket PC!  Overall sonicadmin’s ability to allow me to manage the HP server at the Pocket PC Summit contributed to the success of the event.  I was able to configure and manage the server without having to login at the console for the whole event!

Also, I was able to confirm the resources that were being used on the server.  So I was able to monitor the amount of ram and disk space in use

Barry Shillmover , Sonic Mobility's Evangelist installing sonicadmin  on the Pocket PC Summit Server at the Loews Hotel in Philadelphia!

Security

Sonic Mobility has not forgotten about the importance of keeping your server information secure.  It offers multiple encryption options including RC4256 (we use 256 bit RC4 in version 2.5, 2.6 will use 128 bit Triple DES which is the US government and military standard) bit keys, which are stronger than the 128 bit key you use to access your brokerage account via the web!  Sonicadmin also requires the network administrator to register both usernames and Pocket PCs for enhanced security.  This way if a Pocket PC is lost or stolen, the network administrator can easily disable that specific Pocket PC without compromising all other users access to sonicadmin. Also, they have implemented the ability list what servers the users can access This allows a network administrator to allow a local administrator to manage his server and still allow the network administrator to manage all servers without extra effort.  It’s this kind of attention to detail that really shows how well sonicadmin has been thought out. 

Monitoring the Pocket PCs Functions

Functionality

sonicadmin provides the ability to manage users, printers, services, processes, monitor server statistics and review the event logs (also, DNS).  Further you are able to use Sonic Admin to edit system files, (Also, full file explorer to delete, move, copy, paste and even email files from a managed server) run command line programs and even reboot or shutdown a server (and manage power).  Also, it expands what you can do beyond the server, by adding Telnet and SSH access to Linux server, routers and firewalls. 

Logging into sonicadmin

Selecting the server in the workgroup

Overview of Features

Managing Users, Shares, Printers, Services and Processes

When you choose the option to view the Users, you can reset their account and change their password.  With the Printers, you can delete a print job and monitor the status of pending print jobs.  With the Services function you can manage the files that are opened on the server real time. With the Services function, you can see what services are running, start and stop the services.  With the processes function, you can see what processes are running and terminate processes.