Tripwire Hops on Server Monitoring

Upgrading applications and servers is among a data center technician's dullest tasks, but new software shipping this week from Tripwire Inc. aims to automate the process.

Tripwire, based in Portland, Ore., specializes in what officials call "change monitoring" for servers and networks. In layman's terms: Its software is used to keep track of the many changes that are made in server configurations. Companies tend to underestimate the importance of understanding and automating change, especially in large-scale situations, the Tripwire folk say.

In scenarios where there are a number of configuration changes, Tripwire for Servers 4.5 builds reports based on audit policies set by the user. Users can now approve changes in bunches, and if the report reflects something wrong, policies can be changed on the fly.

In the prior version, Tripwire for Servers 4.1, the process of setting audit policies was manual, explains Rob Warmack, director of product planning. Problems can now be checked by severity levels, he adds.

The checking capability, with 4.5, is now also integrated with BMC Software Inc.'s (NYSE: BMC) Remedy Action Request System. Later this year it will be integrated with Hewlett-Packard Co.'s (NYSE: HPQ) OpenView, Warmack says. The software requires a $7,000 management console and per-server licenses starting at $600. A Remedy-specific version costs $6,995. Next up for the company is a product line convergence. This will involve, in the first quarter of 2005, the merger of Tripwire for Server and Tripwire for Networks into one as-yet unnamed product, according to Warmack. [Ed. note: How'bout calling it "Tripwire for Server and Networks"?]Barrak Engl, chief security offer of San Francisco-based InStorecard Inc., chose Tripwire's software for his startup company in the retail customer loyalty field, after having used the products several years ago at WebEx Communications Inc. He runs 4.1 today but plans to install 4.5 soon. The new reporting features are useful, if overdue: "It does the consolidation which is actually something I remember discussing with them three years ago," Engl says.

As for the upcoming products merger, "It should all be as centralized and consolidated as possible," Engl hopes. But he also notes that the software needs to be easier to learn. "That's always been the biggest obstacle. It's a pretty steep learning curve."

Tripwire, like everyone else, has its competition. But it's not direct competition. On the server side, there is functionality like Tripwire's in products such as Symantec Corp.'s (Nasdaq: SYMC) Intrusion Detection System and various tools from NetIQ Corp. (Nasdaq: NTIQ). In networking, the Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) CiscoWorks line includes change monitoring.

Tripwire's Warmack emphasizes the lack of direct competition. "But that's also part of their problem, why they're not getting any traction," Forrester Research Inc.'s Michael Rasmussen says. "They're very niche in what they do. If I get 90 percent of the way there, but I also get this other functionality with it, that makes it more valuable to me," he says of the other products.

Warmack acknowledges the viewpoint, but stresses that the specialty will pay off. Technology is a long way from actually knowing what customers actually intend to change, but it's getting there, he contends. Or, as he puts it, "If you are willing to test, then we can know what the intentions were. If I see a big footprint in the mud, is that good or is that bad? It depends if you're a hunter or if you're dinner."Evan Koblentz, Senior Editor, Next-Gen Data Center Forum