15 Security and Backup Tools for Windows Admins

Set up a single master backup web server, do network troubleshooting and analysis, email archiving, deploy security solutions around networks and more…

1.Wireshark

Wireshark is used for network troubleshooting, analysis, software and communications protocol development, and education. Wireshark is cross-platform, using the Qt widget toolkit in current releases to implement its user interface, and using pcap to capture packets,  it runs on GNU/Linux, OS X, BSD, Solaris, some other Unix-like operating systems, and Microsoft Windows.

2. Exchange 2010 RBAC Manager

Exchange 2010 RBAC Manager is a tool for admins working with role-based access control and Exchange. RBAC Manager helps overcome the lack of a GUI tool to work with the new role-based administration side to Exchange, enabling admins to connect, whether or not you’re a PowerShell master. The tool is written in C# and uses PowerShell behind the scenes to allow you to create and manage roles in your Exchange 2010 environment.

3. AMANDA

AMANDA, the Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver, is a backup solution that allows the IT administrator to set up a single master backup server to back up multiple hosts over network to tape drives/changers or disks or optical media. Amanda uses native utilities and formats (e.g. dump and/or GNU tar) and can back up a large number of servers and workstations running multiple versions of Linux or Unix. Amanda is a fully integrated business system which contains everything from customer details, offer, order, production, logistics, project, economy,  salary to market and personal planning.

4. Core Configurator 2.0

It is completely open source so it can be amended and change to fit your requirements, this version has been a year in the making and has been written in PowerShell with a reference to Winforms so that a GUI format is displayed. Core Configuration tasks include Product Licensing, Networking Features, DCPromo Tool.

5. MailArchiva

MailArchiva is a powerful, full featured email archiving and compliance solution for mail systems such as Microsoft Exchange. It stores all incoming, outgoing and internal emails for long term storage. MailArchiva is the development, to provide, a dual license of e-mail archiving software free of the Open Source Edition and paid Enterprise Edition. Various OS can respond to the mail server environment, because of the multi-lingual, have been used in various countries and regions.

6. AutoSPInstaller for SharePoint 2010

AutoSPInstaller is an open source set of PowerShell scripts that installs and performs a base configuration of SharePoint Server 2010 or 2013. This project consists of PowerShell scripts, an XML input file, and a standard Windows batch file which together provide a quick and near-unattended installation and initial configuration (Service Apps, My Sites) of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010/2013.  It configures a single or multi-server SharePoint farm based on a predefined configuration XML file.

7. OCS Inventory

If you need a cool tool for locating all the devices connected to your network and what software and hardware you have installed on your systems, then OCS-NG is the one for you. It requires you install the OCS client inventory agent on your systems; you can then pull all that information into a repository that’s easy to visualize and search.

8. PowerGUI

It’s no secret that PowerShell is taking the Windows world by storm. It feels like a retro pleasure for many long-term admins who remember the command-line days. But for others, banging on the command line to administer systems can be a pain. Those looking for a more graphical means of tapping into PowerShell should check out PowerGUI, a free graphical user interface and script editor for PowerShell. More valuable perhaps is the community built around PowerGUI, with its vast store of contributed scripts and libraries for administering your fleet.

9. ClamWin Antivirus

This open source antivirus solution is a valuable tool for security-minded admins. ClamWin supports Windows .The tool includes a scanning scheduler that you can use to configure appropriate scan times but does not come with an on-access real-time scanner. It also has the ability to integrate into Windows Explorer and Outlook for easy scanning.

10. UltraDefrag

UltraDefrag is a tool for Windows that can defrag system files, registry hives, and the paging file. It’s continually updated to ensure improvements in performance. UltraDefrag is fully compatible with Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and all of the 64-bit editions of Windows. It’s a valuable addition to any Windows environment.

11. Performance Analysis of Logs (PAL) Tool

The PAL (Performance Analysis of Logs) tool is a powerful tool that reads in a performance monitor counter log and analyzes it using known thresholds. This open source tool helps read performance monitor counter logs and analyzes them , using built-in thresholds that relate to the majority of your Windows products, including Exchange, SharePoint, Active Directory, and more.

12. Zenmap

Zenmap is a cool tool for mapping a topology of devices connected to your network. This security scanner works off of Nmap, providing an interactive, animated visualization of hosts on a network, configured in rings.With Zenmap, information regarding potential vulnerabilities becomes that much easier to pinpoint, ensuring your firewalls and routers are working correctly.

13. Nmap for Windows

Originally a Unix-only tool, Nmap for Windows has been an important security resource for Windows . This security scanner and network mapper can also be used to perform network inventory, manage service upgrade schedules, and monitor host or service uptime. It supports Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows XP SP1 and later.

14. Virtual Router

Virtual Router is a nifty tool that turns any Windows R2 system into a Wi-Fi hotspot. Using Virtual Router, users can wirelessly share any Internet connection (Wi-Fi, LAN, cable modem, dial-up, cellular, and so on) with any Wi-Fi-enabled device. Laptops, smartphones, netbooks, wireless printers — all can connect to Virtual Router just as they would any other access point, and the connection is completely secured using WPA2, the most secure wireless encryption.

15. VirtualBox

VirtualBox is a must-have open source virtualization solution for any admin seeking to run guest OSes on Windows, Linux, Macintosh, or Solaris machines. Using VirtualBox, admins can run virtual instances of a wide array of operating systems, including Windows, Linux, OpenSolaris, OS/2, OpenBSD, and even DOS.