Hello!
First of all, a quick introduction to DameWare for our Product Blog readers that are new to it. DameWare family has two products the DameWare Remote Support (DRS) and the DameWare Mini Remote Control (MRC). MRC provides an easy and proven tool to remote desktop into a machine over the network and includes tons of features such as authentication, encrypted communication, chat, screenshots, etc. DRS is a superset that contains all the features of MRC and many more features to remotely manage and monitor machines on the network including taking control and making changes to your Active Directory (AD) Infrastructure.
Thanks to everyone that provided feedback on Beta1. We have made changes based on your feedback and also completed implementation of other features such as the global and personal host list and simplified technician experience for setting up the Internet Session. We are now happy to announce availability of Beta2 for DameWare v11.
As I mentioned in my kickoff post, we are really excited about this next major release of DameWare and here is why:
- DameWare v11 will support a centralized architecture to ease management of licenses, users, and host lists
- DameWare v11 will support remote control over the internet (must have a DRS license for this feature)
Note that with v11 release, Internet Session feature will only be available to users tied to a DRS license key. All other new features (such as centralized login and licensing) will work with both DRS and MRC licenses.
Everyone that participated in Beta1 is eligible for Beta2 and will receive the new installation files. If you did not get a chance to fill in the survey for Beta1, please do so below,it should only take 3- 5 minutes.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR DAMEWARE v11 BETA
Here’s a peek into what you can expect to see with Beta2.
New DameWare Server and its Roles
Administration Console
While this is not a DameWare Server role, it is an essential part of the DameWare Centralized Solution. It is the tool through which you manage the DameWare Server roles. The Administration Console can connect to the Central Server or Mobile Gateway directly to access their status and settings. The Internet Proxy has to be paired with the Central Server to work, so its settings are accessible by connecting to an appropriate Central Server instance.
Below is a screenshot of the Administration Console showing Central Server summary tab:
Central Server
The Central Server role is the hub of the new DameWare Centralized Solution. It stores the licenses for all the DRS and DMRC Consoles installed in Centralized Mode, the user records, and Host Lists (both Global and Personal).
Below is a screenshot of the Administration Console showing Central Server Users tab. In this particular deployment, the admin role can configure the server components, modify global hosts list, add users, activate licenses, etc. The user role will be provided to a technician who will have access to both MRC and DRS functionality.
Internet Proxy
The DameWare Server in Internet Proxy role is a fixed point in the Internet Session communication. Both the Console from the internal network and the agent from the Internet connect to it, and Internet Proxy pairs their requests based on the same Session ID.
Below is a screenshot of the Administration Console showing the Internet Proxy settings. The internet session settings are configurable by the administrator including aspects such as port and number of connections allowed.
Mobile Gateway
DameWare Mobile Gateway was released as a standalone product in version 10. Now it is a role of the DameWare Server with the same function. It receives and routes requests from mobile devices using DameWare Mobile to DameWare agents on your local network.
Notable New Features
Configuration Wizard
To help you deploy the solution that best fit your needs and network infrastructure, we created Configuration Wizard to help you enable and setup all parts of the DameWare Server. It starts automatically after the Installer deploys the files. It can be started again from Start Menu if changes in configuration are needed.
Internet Session
This new feature enables DMRC consoles in Centralized Mode to establish connections with agents outside of your local network, without public IPs, behind Firewalls with the most commonly used settings. The connection is initiated from the DMRC Console and the generated link must be passed to the user on the agent side.
Note that with v11 release, Internet Session feature will only be available to users tied to a DRS license key. Centralized mode will work with either DRS or MRC license.
To establish Internet session, the technician clicks on Internet Session in the DameWare MRC console and starts a session as shown below. Technician then sends session detail to end user.
If end user does not have agent installed, the user is redirected to the Agent Download page hosted on the Internet Proxy. See below for a screenshot of this page.
Once end user has agent installed, choosing “Join Internet session” on agent right-click will allow end user to join the session and technician to remote control the end user machine. Example of session details can be seen in screenshot below.
Global and Personal Host Lists
Create and manage a Global Host list, which can be downloaded by all users when they connect to the Central Server by logging into the DRS or DMRC Console (only with Centralized Mode).
Personal Host lists are similar to the Favorite Machines folder, but in Centralized Mode, they are stored in the Central Server Database and are downloaded to any console where the particular user is logged in. Any changes made are synchronized back to Server.
Below is a screenshot of the Administration Console showing Global Host List:
Thanks for listening, now its our turn. We still have time to make changes to features for this release. Please try out Beta 2 and let us know what works, what's missing and what needs fixing!
After filling out the survey below and validating that you are a current customer with maintenance valid through our beta period. I will send you the download links. Please sign up for the DameWare v11 Beta by completing the survey below:
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR DAMEWARE v11 BETA