OpenSSH is free, standards based, and works well. I've been using it for ages, exactly like Richard illustrated. I have a script that gathers basic health status from my servers. When going to the DMZ systems, they run OpenSSH (port 22 blocked by outer bastion FW, allowed by inner bastion FW), and I can use Kix to
 Code:
SHELL '%COMSPEC% /c ssh USER@DMZCOMPUTER RmtHealth.kix >DMZCOMPUTER.LOG'
The output of the remote Kix script is redirected to the log file on the calling computer. I can then parse it as any other.

OpenSSH is also part of Cygwin, which adds most *IX tools to the windows environment.

Glenn
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Actually I am a Rocket Scientist! \:D