Fax server for Microsoft Exchange




	FI BILLS FAXMAKER for Exchange 5.5 as an interim release, tiding users over until the release of Version 6.0 later this year. But don’t be fooled. Version 5.5 offers much more than just compatibility with the recently released Microsoft Exchange 5.5. FaxMaker for Exchange, which runs on an Exchange server as a Windows NT service or an application, lets users send and receive faxes directly from Outlook and the Exchange client in the same way they send and receive e-mail messages. When a user enters a fax address from an Outlook or Exchange address book, FaxMaker converts the message to fax format and sends it. Users can send faxes directly from any Windows application by simply printing to the FaxMaker printer driver. FaxMaker will even automatically convert and fax any Office 95/97 documents attached to messages. And FaxMaker will take advantage of Exchange Server’s least-cost routing to send faxes from the appropriate Exchange server. The product doesn’t yet have the remote-management and scripted-routing capabilities of its main competitor, Omtool Fax Sr. But it is significantly less expensive and a snap to install and configure, virtues that will make it attractive to anyone administering an Exchange shop. Apart from compatibility with Exchange 5.5, the most obvious reason for upgrading to FaxMaker 5.5 is its broad hardware support. In addition to supporting an assortment of Class 2 fax/modems, FaxMaker now supports some popular devices, including Brooktrout fax cards and U.S. Robotics’ Courier line of modems and ISDN CAPI 2.0 cards. Version 5.5 also adds line routing for incoming faxes. The previous version of FaxMaker let users route faxes from specified senders to specified recipients with Caller Sender Identification. You can also route faxes using direct inward dialing, which employs virtual phone numbers assigned by the phone company, or Dual Tone Multifrequency, which routes faxes according to a series of digital tones entered by the sender. With the new line-routing feature, you can stipulate that faxes arriving on a specified fax line be delivered to a specified recipient, printer, or both. Additionally, GFI has enhanced FaxMaker’s mail-merge capabilities. With the previous version you could perform fax mail merges with Microsoft Word for Windows. Version 5.5 includes a new and well-designed wizard that leads you through setting up a fax broadcast to users listed in any ODBC database. While testing FaxMaker, I was most surprised by how easy it was to install. Configuring programs that work with messaging systems is often a complicated, trying experience, but I found it simple to get FaxMaker for Exchange running. I didn’t have to remember anything, including domain or post office names, and I only had to know whether I wanted to use one or more Exchange servers. To install on multiple servers, you are directed to create a directory on one server to hold the files, then map that directory to the other servers for installation. Installing the optional optical character recognition (OCR) module is separate. I encountered only one snag: When I tried to install client software from the client directory on the server, I discovered that the setup file was corrupt and needed to be replaced. That done, everything ran fine. GFI advises that FaxMaker for Exchange users should upgrade to Version 5.5 only if they need one or another of these specific features. If not, users should wait for Version 6.0. However, because anyone who upgrades to Version 5.5 now will get a free upgrade to Version 6.0, there’s nothing to lose. GFI promises to add remote administration and load balancing among multiple fax servers, as well as least-cost routing via the Internet, in Version 6.0. Patrick Marshall is an InfoWorld contributing editor. He is senior technology analyst at Federal Computer Week’s Test Center.


					any of you have sent us e-mail wanting to know what free port scanners are available for a Windows 95 or Windows NT machine. For those of you who shy away from Unix, there are a variety of freely available Windows-based scanners on the Internet. Though none of them is as robust or flexible as their Unix counterparts, all of them do provide a surface view of the security holes in your network. (For more on the Linux tool nmap, from Fyodor’s Playhouse, see “Freeware scanners find network holes, thwart detection solutions,” June 8, page 62D.) Warning: no stealth scanning The fundamental problem with all Windows-based scanners is their current lack of stealth scanning such as Syn, FIN, or fragmentation. Stealth scanning can trick a packet-filtering router or firewall into allowing the scan through to your network. So if you use Windows scanning tools, you may not be getting the complete picture. Crackers love stealth scanning techniques and use them extensively to try and get around your routers and firewalls. Be forewarned: Windows scanners won’t tell you the whole story. At the bottom of the scanning food chain is IP Prober — a freeware utility offered by Access Informatics (http://www.accinform.com/ipprobe.html). IP Prober is the simplest of scanners because it does only one thing: scan a single IP address with a range of port numbers. There is nothing fancy with this tool — no name resolution, no random port scanning, and it is often very slow (due largely to its number of retries with non-responsive ports). Port Scanner is a shareware utility offered by Blue Globe Software (http://www.blueglobe.com/~cliffmcc). The product offers a range of IP addresses for scanning and port numbers from a maintained list (which provides some degree of randomness). In addition, Port Scanner provides name resolution, target ranges, and list scanning (pseudo-random), but it does not provide a means to randomize your hosts. It can also be quite slow. Sam Spade is freeware written by Blighty Design (http://www.blighty.com/products/spade). Sam is much more than a scanner. We use it extensively in our security work to perform zone transfers, Whois, lookups, PING, DNS, traceroute, dig, Finger, SMTP VRFY/EXPN, and much more. It does offer name resolution, target ranges, and list scanning (pseudo-random), plus it’s very fast. But like the other Windows scanners, it offers no stealth scanning and no random host or port scanning. And we have found that large scans with Sam have a tendency to overwhelm the system. Internet Maniac is a freeware utility by Sumit Birla (http://members.tripod.com/~Sumit_Birla). This utility is also much more than a port scanner; it includes name lookups, traceroute, PING, raw connect, Finger, Whois, POP3 check, and a port listener. The scanner does allow for target host ranges and tends to be very fast. However, it offers no random host or port selection, and along with the other products, it offers no stealth scanning. Great promise At the top of the food chain we find Asmodeus, from Web Trends (http://www.webtrends.com/wss). This freeware beta product doesn’t have fancy features, but it’s one of the only products that offers vulnerability checks such as banner, registry permission, and OS checks. Other niceties include an Ethernet sniffer and vulnerability scripting capability. But it offers no host or port ranges (full domains only), no random scanning, and only modest scanning speeds. It may be too early to tell, but Asmodeus has the beginnings of a robust Windows-based scanner. If your goal is to understand your network from a 40,000-foot view, then Windows port scanning tools will suffice. But if you’re serious about your security and looking for the holes that crackers will find, then take the time to install a Linux box and use nmap. Test Center Support Manager Stuart McClure and Technology Analyst Joel Scambray have managed information security in academic, corporate, and government environments for the past nine years. They currently test dozens of security products, from firewalls to security auditing solutions, in search of new ways to improve enterprise network security. You can reach them at security_watch@infoworld.com. Copyright © 1998 #172915 by InfoWorld Publishing Company, a subsidiary of IDG Communications Inc. Reprinted from InfoWorld, 155 Bovet Road, San Mateo, CA 94402. Managed by Reprint Management Services (717) 560-2001. http://www.rmsreprints.com — sales@rmsreprints.com