One of the most widely used applications of Secure-Shell-based products is to replace the unsecured login protocols, Rlogin, Telnet, and FTP with secure alternatives. The SSH Tectia client/server solution is based on SSH Secure Shell, used worldwide for secure system administration. Unlike the competing Secure-Shell-based products for secure remote administration, SSH Tectia provides centralized management with SSH Tectia Manager to reduce the operating costs related to software and configuration management, and offers advanced monitoring capabilities from a central location.

SSH Tectia Client software is installed in the system administrator's workstation and the SSH Tectia Server software in the managed server. In this configuration, the number of servers can be much higher than the number of client installations. Currently there are numerous active SSH Tectia implementations with thousands of SSH Tectia Server instances installed within the corporate network.

Figure 5.1. Secure system administration with SSH Tectia client/server solution

Figure 5.1 shows a typical SSH Tectia environment for secure system administration. In this example, the managed servers reside in the DMZ network, and the system administrator connects to them over the Internet using SSH Tectia Client. SSH Tectia Manager can be used to centrally manage both SSH Tectia Client and Server, eliminating the need for local on-site configuration and maintenance.