Much like a troop leader, StarBurst Communications' OmniCast Dispatcher is a server process that receives file-transfer jobs from an OmniCast user for execution through StarBurst MFTP (Multicast File Transfer Protocol)--the troops in our analogy. MFTP distributes data updates to computers on the corporate network, adhering to the list of instructions for installing files. OmniCast distributes data using IP multicast, broadcast and unicast distribution techniques.

OmniCast ships with two client varieties--the OmniCast Administrator and the OmniCast User. I tested beta releases of both in my New Zealand lab and liked what I saw. OmniCast is useful for replicating Web sites, automatically installing software on desktops, and updating a central point-of-sale database and distributing the information. It is designed to integrate with existing network infrastructures, topologies and protocols, and it scales to support thousands of end points. Organizations that need to distribute information across geographically dispersed end points should seriously investigate OmniCast. This product offers a solid value proposition by simplifying and automating the transfer of data.

However, there is room for improvement with OmniCast's directory service integration, and the vendor should consider adding cross-platform server support in the next version.

Ready for Action

Configuring the Dispatcher, registering users and handling ongoing performance-management tasks require the Administrator client. Jobs are created, submitted and monitored with the User client. Both clients are aesthetically pleasing, and their main toolbars include icons for the major tasks.

In the lab, when I clicked on the "Send" icon on the User client, I was able to enter file names, transmission options, addresses and time schedules for configuring a job. The tabbed card-file dialog box is easy to work with, and I liked not having to scroll up and down a single form to ensure that all relevant fields were completed. Field descriptors such as "TX Interface Address" were a bit esoteric, but these should mature in subsequent releases. During my testing, after I issued a menu command, the mouse icon remained as an hourglass until I moved the mouse again. Aside from this, I didn't encounter any difficulties.

I was impressed with OmniCast's end-point tools and their granularity in configured file reception. You can configure individual end points to receive all pushed files or only a filtered subset, but I didn't test this feature because my lab is not equipped for IP networking. OmniCast implements three filtering methods--filter by file name, filter by file description and filter by file size--which you can use individually or in combination. You control these parameters on the "Filters" tab on the file-receive form in the User client, and I found the query-build process easy to use.

In the lab, the monitoring toolset provided job progress information as well as job queue control. When I drilled down into a job, I saw comprehensive details on job status, including job number, description, current status, start and end times and dates, and the name of the user who had submitted the job. With the User client, I canceled a job I'd submitted, but couldn't cancel a job submitted by another user--a feature included in the OmniCast security model. With the Administrator client, I assumed complete control in deleting, holding or releasing one or more jobs in the queue.

Future Battle Strategies

OmniCast lacks user-account directory integration. I was disappointed that it could not read the Windows NT user directory, which would have let me import my existing user accounts into the product. Instead, I had to create user accounts with the Administrator client and communicate the user name/password combination to the registered users.

OmniCast didn't exhibit any auto-discovery capabilities for the directory hierarchy. When I created a job, I needed to know the precise name of the directory folder to which I wanted the file transfer to go; I couldn't browse my enterprise directory for the target directory folder. The two OmniCast server processes run on Windows NT Server, but with support for other servers, OmniCast would appeal to more organizations and mixed networks.

Michael Sampson is the managing director of Teamlink Communications, a private company based in New Zealand that is focused on collaborative computing, messaging and virtual teams. He can be reached at michael.sampson@teamlink.co.nz.