Features

Device auto-discovery

Once NetSupport DNA is installed and operational in your school, it will constantly monitor the network to identify and alert you to any new devices (and SNMP-enabled network devices such as switches and printers) that join, providing the option to automatically deploy an agent for future management.

Software update

You can choose how NetSupport DNA gets updated across your school: automatically updating via a smart update or by an external method, such as GPO or SSCM. This helps put your IT team in control of how and when you want updates to go live.

‘Welcome’ dashboard

The Welcome dashboard shows you an overview of key IT activity, so you can see at a glance what is happening across the school. You can also switch to the Efficiency View; a dashboard that highlights how your technology is being used and the areas where efficiency can be improved to create cost- and time-saving benefits.

Tree view

A convenient Tree view means you can quickly display data for a PC, user, device or discovered PC. By default, the Tree will reflect the structure of your work group/domain, but you can customise it to suit individual requirements, for example, grouping by geographical location or department.

Dynamic grouping: NetSupport DNA also features Dynamic Groups. You can define the parameters of a dynamic group and it is automatically added to the main hierarchy Tree. A dynamic group could, for example, be to identify which classroom PCs are upgradeable and this would be created automatically from those that match the required criteria, e.g. “all PCs with more than ‘XX’ GB RAM, ‘XX’ GB free disk space and XX processor type” and so on.

Bookmarks: You can create and place bookmarks within the PCs, users and devices Tree views to quickly navigate to the place you want to work with, which is really useful if you have a large or complex Tree structure.

Custom images: To help find users/items in the hierarchy Tree view easily, you can also apply custom images to departments, dynamic groups, PCs and users.

Software Inventory and Licensing

Schools can better manage licence compliance and reduce software overspend by accurately reporting installed software and proactively identifying PCs with software that has no or low usage.

NetSupport DNA shows you a detailed summary of all programs and applications installed on each PC (including Windows 8 and 10 store apps), alongside the install date of hotfixes to highlight which devices have received updates. NetSupport DNA can display this information for a selected PC, a department or a custom group.

The software licence tool supports the ongoing management of all software licences for each department: recording suppliers, purchase and invoice details, department or cost centre allocation and the tracking of maintenance contacts as well as storing PDF copies of any supporting documents.

Internet Metering

Naturally, the key to supporting an effective online safety policy and safe learning environment is providing effective controls.

With NetSupport DNA, you can manage your school’s internet use with lists of approved and restricted websites and/or sub-URLs that can be applied centrally and to specific groups (via profiles) such as departments and year groups. You can also control internet access by time of day, perhaps only allowing access to approved gaming sites for school clubs outside of hours, for example.

You can see a detailed summary of all internet activity on each PC by a student, including start and finish times for each website visited and the active time spent on a page (results can be reviewed by device or user).

Apps and games can also be blocked or restricted by their window’s title, helping your school to add a broader layer of security while keeping students on task. For example, an application with the word ‘multi-player’ included in the title can immediately be blocked during school hours but allowed for after schools clubs, if appropriate.

Software distribution

NetSupport DNA provides a multi-delivery option for software distribution.

A software distribution package is created by either applying parameters to a collection of files or folders or by using the DNA application packager – recording the user prompts, keystrokes and mouse clicks that are used during a test installation, and then automating these on a live deployment to bypass the need for operator intervention.

Once created, the application package can be automatically “pushed” to the target PCs in the school for deployment or, alternatively, it can be “published”. Once published, a user can check to see which applications are available for their PC, based on their faculty, and “pull” these down on demand.

NetSupport DNA also includes a Scheduling feature that allows packages to be deployed on a specific date and time – usually out of core school hours when network traffic is at its lowest.

With remote deployments such as multi-site schools, the need to minimise network traffic congestion becomes a priority. In this case, NetSupport DNA allows a client PC, ideally local to the target machines, to be nominated as a distribution point. When the software is deployed, rather than being sent to each remote PC directly, it is just sent to the designated PC which then acts as a relay and redistributes it to its local PCs.

IT teams can also view a handy report that shows whether there were any errors during the install or if the applications were installed successfully. This feature helps you ensure that all staff/students have all the applications they need and quickly highlights whether any users are missing apps or have not installed any apps that are available to them, thereby boosting productivity levels. Plus, the ‘Search facility’ added into Software Packages makes it easier to find what you are looking for!

Energy Monitoring and Power Management

Energy saving is a big area of focus for schools and NetSupport DNA helps in two ways:

Energy Monitoring: First of all, NetSupport DNA checks the powered-on state of all computers. Its local monitoring component and keeps an accurate record of each time a computer is powered on, off or hibernates. Once it knows the times of day each computer was operational, it uses a “power consumption per device” calculation to work out the baseline energy use for all computers. Armed with this information, your school can now see a simple and concise high-level summary of potential energy wastage by office and classroom computer systems that are left powered on out of school hours.

Power Management: With this information to hand, you can now set Power Management policies. Computers in selected classrooms can be set to automatically power off at a specified time at the end of each day and then power back on – all at once, or in stages – the next morning. In addition, you can apply “inactivity policies”: setting rules for systems to sleep, log out or power down if they have been inactive over a period of time.

Print Monitoring

NetSupport DNA gives you a full overview of printing activities and indicative costs across your school.

Individual printers across the school are automatically identified and, from the central console view, costs for printing (black and white, colour and so on) can be assigned either globally or against each different printer. Where required, you can also exclude printers from the view.

Remote control

Powerful Remote Control features as also included as standard in NetSupport DNA – with everything from screen viewing and transferring files, to remote PowerShell where sessions to can be run as a specific user, Command Prompt and Registry Editor – to make remote device management even easier.

The remote control features also support schools that are not part of their trust’s/district’s main infrastructure. Via the DNA Console, you can connect to a device at another school you support by using the secure in-built Gateway component. This is a useful tool for multi-academy trusts/districts where support is needed for remote schools that are not part of the same WAN.