Power Save Delivers Enhanced Enterprise Power Management & Auditing Capabilities

Faronics is pleased to announce that the Windows version of its desktop computer energy management software, Power Save, has advanced to version 3.0! This latest release introduces several feature additions and improvements, including an Audit mode, increased control over the operating system’s power settings, and support for phased deployments.

Power Save 3.0’s newly added Audit mode measures the potential energy and financial savings that could have been gained had Power Save been active on a workstation. These Measurement and Verification reports can then be used to accurately assess how positive Power Save’s impact would be in an environment—especially useful when trying to calculate Power Save’s return on investment. Enterprise management is provided via Core Console, Faronics’ unified workstation management tool. Administrators are able to deploy Power Save to multiple workstations and manage their energy configurations—all from one central console. Core Console can even determine whether a workstation’s operating system power management settings are enabled, with the option to have Power Save disable and override these settings.

“Power Save supports phased deployments,” says Hemanshu Mehta, Product Manager for Power Save. “When Power Save is pushed out to workstations it is installed in an audit state that awaits an activation command. This allows IT administrators to begin and complete the deployment phase of Power Save without the fear of impacting the users’ computing experience. Once users have been educated about the new energy management that has been deployed to their computers, IT can begin activating the Power Save workstation configurations.”

Faronics Insight 7.1 — Now Available!

Faronics recently released a new version of our popular classroom management software. Version 7.1 of Insight introduces numerous feature additions and enhancements. Here’s a summary of the major changes:

Classroom Layout
Thumbnails can now be arranged in the shape of the classroom.

USB Thumb Drive Limiting
Limit student access to USB thumb drives.

Keystroke & Application Monitoring
Monitor keystrokes that have been pressed on a computer by any user.

Student Question Enhancements
Students can now type in a question to the teacher.

Web Limiting Enhancement
The web limiting configuration now recognizes wildcards.

Voting Results
It is now possible to see how individual students answered the question and have those results exported to a text file.

Faronics Deep Freeze and the University of Nevada

Faronics has added another great Deep Freeze Case Study to the Content Library—this time with the University of Nevada – Reno.

“Deep Freeze has allowed us to more effectively allocate time for our IT teams," says UNR`s Vice President, Steven Zink. "We`re saving hours everyday that would have been used to reinstall and uninstall software on the hundreds of computers our department maintains." Deep Freeze`s positive effects on UNR`s shared computing experience are tangible. Students are safer and enjoy a smoother computing experience. Teachers can install software on computers without interfering with the instruction of a following class. Most importantly, the computer labs can continue to function without strict tech-placed, mobility limiting restrictions on users.

Anti-Executable Keeps Interlopers Off Your Computer

Faronics Anti-Executable 3.0 received a great review on TechNewsWorld this month. Here are some notable excerpts from the article, written by Jack M. Germain:

"For any computing environment that requires tight control over who can run what applications, Faronics' Anti-Executable 3.0 may be the answer. The program prevents anything that is not explicitly allowed from executing. End of story."

"Faronics' Anti-Executable 3.0, which allows a computer to run approved applications only, is one of the most comprehensive ways available to improve worker and student productivity."
"For those who want a higher degree of assurance that unapproved applications or users will not harm their computers, this program is rock solid."

Read the full article to learn more!

Product Update: Faronics Anti-Executable 3.10

Faronics strives to enhance our products as quickly as possible, which is why version 3.1 of Anti-Executable has released so quickly after version 3.0! This latest release resolves several bugs, and introduces new features such as an installer which launches in the appropriate language by detecting the system locale (Enterprise), a separate application for command line control (Enterprise), and a modified White List editor (Standard and Enterprise).

Learn more about Anti-Executable 3.1 by visiting the links below!

Power Save In The Press

Power Save has been getting a lot of attention in the media recently, thanks to the big push for IT to go green. Here are some of the recent articles that have focused on or mentioned Power Save!

Power Management Software Helps Slash Energy Costs

PC owners urged to manage power use and save money

Power Management Software Is a Little to No Cost Way to Go Green and Save Green

Security vs. Flexibility: Must IT Management Choose?

Faronics has published a new White Paper detailing how Deep Freeze provides the perfect balance between system integrity and user productivity. This White Paper will prove invaluable to IT Managers who are tasked with delivering a desktop environment that is secure and locked down to a uniform corporate standard, yet flexible enough to handle the myriad of exceptions that arise across the enterprise. Centralized Configuration Management (CCM) tools are great, especially in environments with branch offices, but CCM tools can’t do the big job of making IT environments inherently more secure or more flexible. This paper focuses on how IT Managers can leverage CCM tools along with other techniques and tools to have it all: security, a uniform standard, and flexibility when needed.

Faronics Deep Freeze Added To Novell Open Workgroup Suite

Small businesses now have one more compelling reason to choose Novell Open Workgroup Suite Small Business Edition as their featured desktop-to-server solution—Faronics Deep Freeze’s bulletproof system protection has now been added to the suite’s Installer Toolkit. Small businesses that deploy Novell’s suite designed for small business productivity can now easily experience the benefits of absolute protection and configuration drift prevention that Deep Freeze can bring to their desktop computers. Users enjoy a pristine and unrestricted computing experience, while IT personnel are freed from tedious helpdesk requests.

Novell Open Workgroup Suite Small Business Edition is a Linux-based desktop-to-server solution tailored to meet the needs of small businesses. The Installer Toolkit for Novell Open Workgroup Suite Small Business Edition streamlines the installation of applications by packaging complex multi-step installers into simple easy-to-deploy components. Third-party applications such as Deep Freeze that have been added to the Installer Toolkit can easily be deployed to workstations with very little user interaction, using intelligent defaults to configure the necessary services.

This month’s employee profile is on Shawn Campbell, Faronics’ IT Manager. Shawn has been with Faronics for roughly 3 years. He originally served as a Web Developer on a number of projects before moving into his current role. His team is responsible for overseeing the deployment, security, and support of Faronics’ IT infrastructure.

Q: What’s your Faronics story?
A: I was originally hired to develop Faronics’ customer care portal, Faronics Labs. It took a considerable amount of time, but I believe it was worth it. The ease-of-access that it provides our customers in being able to download the latest versions of their Faronics software is great.

Q: Different positions held either here or in the past?
A: Before IT, I used to actually instruct ski lessons in Whistler, BC. When summer would come I would fly down to Australia to teach skiing there, during their winter. While I was able to see some great places, I decided to move into IT so that I could settle down in one place.

Q: Hobbies? Interests?
A: I enjoy travelling a lot. My wife and I always try and take a solid vacation every year—last year we went to Portugal, and this year I look forward to revisiting New Zealand. I am also a member of a soccer team here in Vancouver, and I was even able to recruit Faronics’ VP of Marketing, Dmitry Shesterin, to join the team.