Quest Software, Inc., a leading provider of application, database and infrastructure management solutions, today announced its support for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2. As a leader in Active Directory, Windows management and integration solutions, Quest offers immediate support for the new identity and access management features in Windows Server 2003 R2, particularly those related to cross-platform identity federation. In addition, Quest products for Active Directory and Windows management are fully compatible with Windows Server 2003 R2.

Two Quest products provide particular benefit to customers who adopt Windows Server 2003 R2.

• Vintela Authentication Services has, since its creation nearly three years ago, used the RFC 2307 standard for storing Unix identity attributes in Active Directory – the standard that Microsoft has now embraced with Windows Server 2003 R2. This means that customers using Vintela Authentication Services for cross-platform authentication are already Windows Server 2003 R2-ready and need make no changes to Vintela Authentication Services to benefit from Windows Server 2003 R2.
• Vintela Single Sign-on for Java has been updated to support the new Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) capability in Windows Server 2003 R2. Vintela Single Sign-on for Java provides a unified platform for identity management of Java and J2EE applications and services from the same Active Directory infrastructure used to provide single sign-on for Windows resources. This dramatically increases the security of Java applications in Windows enterprises, while reducing the management overhead and redundant tasks and infrastructure demanded by specialized Java authentication tools.

“Windows Server 2003 R2 is a significant step toward true federated identity, bringing the industry closer to the goal of single sign-on across security boundaries,” said Jackson Shaw, senior director of product management for Active Directory and Integration solutions, Quest Software. “With Windows Server 2003 R2, the same industry-standard best practices we built into our Vintela products are now a part of the default Active Directory schema, making cross-platform integration even easier for our customers.”

In addition, a number of Quest’s products for Active Directory and Windows management have been tested with Windows Server 2003 R2 and are fully compatible with it. These include Quest Recovery Manager for Active Directory, Quest Spotlight on Active Directory, Quest InTrust for Windows and Quest InTrust for Active Directory. Compatibility with other Quest products will be confirmed as part of the normal product development and test cycle.

“With the identity and access management enhancements in Windows Server 2003 R2, it is important to collaborate with companies like Quest to extend new identity management capabilities for our mutual customers,” said Jeff Price, senior director for the Windows Server Division at Microsoft.

About Quest Infrastructure Management

Quest Software, Microsoft’s 2004 Global Independent Software Vendor Partner of the Year, provides solutions that simplify, automate and secure Active Directory, Exchange and Windows, as well as integrate Linux and Unix into the managed environment. Quest’s Infrastructure Management products deliver comprehensive capabilities for secure management, migration and integration of the heterogeneous enterprise.