News
Opengear Releases Lighthouse 5 to Centralize Out-of-Band Management from a Single Pane of Glass
September 2017 by Marc Jacob
Opengear announced that Lighthouse 5 – the completely redesigned version of the centralized platform for secure out-of-band management – is now available for purchase through Opengear’s channel partners.
Following the announcement at Cisco Live in June, this on-time release of the Lighthouse 5 software underscores Opengear’s commitment and investment in the most complete console server product line possible.
Enthusiastic validation from the Beta customers has underscored the value that the new Lighthouse brings, gaining high marks from these early users on the flexibility and ease-of-use with both Opengear devices and other console servers. Opengear has already completed a successful pilot program with a number of major customers from a cross-section of industries, including a telecom giant, a large oil and gas company, an international retailer, and a university hospital system.
Among features new to Lighthouse 5, the platform’s RESTful API is one of the most popular. It allows the seamless integration with other existing management software in the IT environment. As an example, Lighthouse 5 offers out-of-the-box integration with Slack, enabling NetOps to manage remote devices within their existing communication structure via a chatbot, and to collaborate more effectively. The Opengear API is open and documented for customers to create their own custom integrations as needed.
Lighthouse 5 provides a centralized out-of-band management portal not only for Opengear devices, but also supports many non-Opengear console servers as well. For example, network administrators utilizing legacy Cisco or Vertiv devices can now manage their entire IT infrastructure of both new and old devices from a single pane of glass. In this way, transitions to more modern equipment can be handled much more smoothly, with no need for abrupt equipment changes or complicated management schemes.
Administrators also have the option to completely automate the node configuration and enrollment process by combining Lighthouse 5 enrollment bundles with Opengear’s popular Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) capability. Doing so eliminates the need for operational man-hours, slashing deployment costs and minimizing human errors. Utilizing ZTP with Lighthouse 5 can serve as a mission-critical asset for any deployment regardless of size – from small to hyperscale deployments.
