• ICMP Ping
• TCP port connection (Deluxe edition)
• Connect to Windows Share (Deluxe edition)
• Test Service on Windows PC (Deluxe edition)
• Test web server for page content (Deluxe edition)
• Other tests via optional plugin modules (Deluxe edition)

• Email via maxoutput.com or SMTP servers
• On-screen popup window
• Play WAV file (Deluxe edition)
• Launch external application (Deluxe edition)
• Submit form data via HTTP (Deluxe edition)

The Basic edition provides basic functionality only: ICMP ping testing, email alerts.

The Deluxe edition (1) adds other types of host testing: TCP connection, Windows file shares, Windows services, web servers, and support for optional plugins, (2) provides additional alert methods: play custom Wave files, launch external applications, and submit form data via HTTP, (3) can be run in the background as a Windows service, and (4) adds an internal web server for viewing and managing hosts remotely.

Beginning with the launch of EZ Pinger a new licensing method will be used for newly released Maximum Output Software products.  We believe this will be beneficial to MOS customers.  Having current Upgrade Protection entitles users to:

• Free product updates and upgrades
• Product technical support
• Discounted pricing on new product licenses

When you purchase a license for EZ Pinger 1 year of Upgrade Protection is included with that license.  The license and registration code issued will be valid forever for all versions of EZ Pinger released within the Upgrade Protection time period.  At the end of that year you will have the option of purchasing additional year(s) of Upgrade Protection if you so desire.  Upgrade Protection entitles you to receive continued product upgrades, technical support, and discounted new licenses after the initial year included with license purchase.

Upgrade Protection is optional and if you do not want to purchase this protection you may, without restriction, use any version of EZ Pinger released during the time your Upgrade Protection is active.  So, for example, if you purchased a license for EZ Pinger on August 15, 2006, any version of EZ Pinger released up until August 14, 2007 is a free upgrade.  To install and use versions released after August 14, 2007 additional Upgrade Protection would need to be purchased.

Because we believe that many customers will keep their product Upgrade protection current we are able to offer lower initial pricing on product licenses than we could otherwise.  Upgrade Protection is available at a discounted rate at the time of your initial license purchase if you wish to purchase this protection ahead of time.  Also, because of Upgrade Protection, there will be no charge for major version upgrades, such as version 1.0 to 2.0 of EZ Pinger. These upgrades will be included as part of Upgrade Protection.

You are not required to purchase Upgrade Protection to continue running EZ Pinger.  Upgrade Protection is only required if you wish to download product updates or receive product technical support more than one year after your initial license purchase.

Technical support for EZ Pinger is free of charge as long as your Upgrade Protection is active.  If you allow your Upgrade Protection to lapse we recommend you use our online forums to request help from other users.

Any version of EZ Pinger released after your Upgrade Protection expiration will function as an unregistered trial version.  To access the features of EZ Pinger that require registration you must install a version of EZ Pinger released during the time your Upgrade Protection is active.

We will have a few versions of EZ Pinger available for download from our web site for this very reason.  However, not all releases will be posted so we strongly encourage you to make several backup copies of your download just in case a version that you need is not available on our web site.

EZ Pinger will begin to add notices to its log 30 days before your Upgrade Protection expires.  Twenty days before it expires it will periodically popup a balloon alert next to the EZ Pinger icon and add reminders to the web server reminding you that Upgrade Protection is about to expire.  After the expiration date passes EZ Pinger will only add reminders to the log.

Upgrade Protection is purchased on a year-by-year basis.  If protection is purchased along with the initial license it is available at 25% of the new license cost per year.  If it is purchased later the cost is 40% of the new license cost per year.

After your Upgrade Protection expires you will need to purchase a new EZ Pinger license to install updated versions.  We will have a short grace period after expiration, but generally speaking it is best to keep your Upgrade Protection current.

1. If the EZ Pinger window is not visible, left-click the EZ Pinger icon in the system notification area near the clock.  If this icon is not there, launch EZ Pinger under Start / Programs / EZ Pinger.
2. Click the "Monitored Hosts" tab (at the bottom of the window).
3. Click the "Configuration" button in the upper right corner of the window.  If this button is not visible, resize the EZ Pinger window so it becomes visible.
4. To add a host click the "Add Host" button in the lower left corner of the Configuration window.  Fill in the host properties.  To add multiple hosts click the "Add Host" button again.
5. To remove a host, click its name in the list and click the "Remove" button.

Before you can send email alerts with EZ Pinger you must setup the email configuration.  Under Configuration / Email Configuration, make sure you have either turned on email relay through maxoutput.com or supplied SMTP server information, and that the message subject and body fields are filled in for the type of alerts you want to send.

Online: The host is online and is responding to tests.
Warning: The host is not responding to tests, but it has not been enough time to consider the host offline.
Offline: The host is not responding to tests, and has not responded to a test for some time.  It should be considered offline.
Online, but has been Offline: A host is currently online, but since the last time it was reset it has been in an Offline state.
Online, but parent has been Offline: A host is currently online, but since the last time it was reset its parent hosts have been offline.  (Parents are defined under host dependencies.)
Disabled: Testing for the host has been disabled.
Status unknown: The scheduled time for testing a host has not yet passed.
Sleeping: The host is scheduled to be tested during certain hours of the day.

Darkened Icons: A parent host is offline, so testing of the host is temporarily turned off.

We recommend that email be sent through maxoutput.com servers whenever possible.  EZ Pinger is able to send messages much more quickly through the maxoutput.com servers than it can through SMTP servers (due to the nature of the SMTP protocol itself) so you should be able to receive your alerts much faster.

There are some instances where this is not practical or possible.  For example, if the domain associated with your email address has been configured with SPF (Sender Policy Framework) you may not be able to receive email sent through maxoutput.com.

The email messages relayed through maxoutput.com are limited to 10,000 total characters.  If you need to send messages longer than this you will need to turn the relay feature off. 

We do recommend using this option, but it is up to you whether you choose to use it or not.

As for email privacy, the maxoutput.com server does not record email contents any longer than is necessary to send the messages, and we never read the messages being sent.  Sending though maxoutput.com should be considered as private and secure as sending through any other SMTP server.

Even if you turn on relaying through maxoutput.com, we still recommend configuring SMTP servers as well to provide alternate means by which outgoing email alerts may be sent.

The maxoutput.com server does not record email contents any longer than is necessary to send the messages, and we never read the messages being sent.  Sending though maxoutput.com should be considered as private and secure as sending through any other SMTP server.

Information on developing EZ Pinger plugins is available in our online forums.

The web server built into the Deluxe edition of EZ Pinger can be setup to require authentication for remote viewing or management of host status.  From the Configuration window, go to Preferences and enter password(s) for View and Manage access.

If EZ Pinger is configured with a View password but no Manage password, all users using the View password will also have management access.  If no password is configured for View, but a password is set for management, all unauthenticated users will be able to view host status but not manage hosts until they successfully connect using one of the Management Login links.

To increase the web server security, we recommend running it on a non-standard port, such as 7464 (which spells PING on a telephone keypad).

Yes.  EZ Pinger identifies these devices and serves a simplified version of the web site.

Absolutely.  The pages for the web interface are served out of the WebServer folder, located under the EZ Pinger program folder.  These pages may be customized to your liking.  Information about the hosts being tested is inserted into the pages using predefined variables.  Please see this post in our online forums for more information.

If you create a particularly interesting or useful site, please feel free to Zip and upload its content to the EZ Pinger discussion forums.

When a user logs into the web interface their username is compared against any host groups that have been defined within EZ Pinger.  If the username matches a group name, only the hosts that are in that group will be visible to that user.

In addition, by adding a group name to the path of a URL (www.sitename.com/group_name/) only hosts in the referenced group will be visible.

These two features would allow you to issue a username and password to a customer so they can view the status of their hosts, without opening up other hosts to them.