After deploying EP Hard Disk, the administrator may choose to install
the EP Management Console to more tightly control end-user assets and
policies on a global enterprise scale. The EP Management Console is
a separate application and is not required to run EP Hard Disk. However,
a centralized Web server management console offers the many benefits noted
above.
An EP Management Console application is used to create two separate programs:
the Server Setup Program and the Client Setup Program.
The Server Setup Program is installed on a pre-configured Internet
server.
The Client Setup Program is distributed to all end-user machines that
are currently running EP Hard Disk. This client program is always loaded
and is always running. The client program's main function is to maintain
communication with the EP Management Console, securely and silently,
over the Internet.
As users connect to the Internet, the client program will periodically
identify itself to EP Management Console via an encrypted network session,
using public/private key authentication. The communications between the
EP Management Console and the client program are transparent to the user.
As this happens, the EP Management Console captures client data and populates
an SQL database containing information about the user settings. The database
automatically collects information that can then be viewed at any time
by administrators.
The EP Management Console reports each computer's ID and encryption status,
identifies which partitions are encrypted, notes users' account expiration,
lists local administrator names, and more. Also, individual policy controls
allow an administrator to set and audit the installed base to ensure compliance
with organizational security policies.