K1000 Questions - PrePurchase
We're currently using SCCM 2007 for our software distribution and hardware inventory. We're taking a look at the K100 product and I'm hoping you guys have the answers.
Can you Manage multiple AD Forests from one K1000 appliance?
Can you setup an e-mail notification to an admin when a new Third-party patch (Java) is available or was downloaded to the device?
Can you add non-AD hardware assets, like USB Printers or Monitors to the inventory?
How does the K1000 handle the decommissioning of hardware that has the kbox agent installed? Do you have to manually delete the hardware from the K1000 or is there a way to automate it?
Thanks!
Can you Manage multiple AD Forests from one K1000 appliance?
Can you setup an e-mail notification to an admin when a new Third-party patch (Java) is available or was downloaded to the device?
Can you add non-AD hardware assets, like USB Printers or Monitors to the inventory?
How does the K1000 handle the decommissioning of hardware that has the kbox agent installed? Do you have to manually delete the hardware from the K1000 or is there a way to automate it?
Thanks!
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Answers (6)
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Posted by:
cblake
12 years ago
Domain membership is not relevant to our agent, so machines in multiple domains is fine.
E-mail notification and reporting automation is definitely available, further a nightly report is emailed to the administrator.
Non computer assets are managed in the Asset module, rather than inventory, but you may track anything you like.
Manual delete is my personal preferred method for various reasons, but automation is built right in. My reasoning: I generally want to know WHY something is gone, rather than just have it disappear.
E-mail notification and reporting automation is definitely available, further a nightly report is emailed to the administrator.
Non computer assets are managed in the Asset module, rather than inventory, but you may track anything you like.
Manual delete is my personal preferred method for various reasons, but automation is built right in. My reasoning: I generally want to know WHY something is gone, rather than just have it disappear.
Posted by:
scottlutz
12 years ago
sajer137
One method I have heard being used, which takes the best of your idea, and combines it with Chris' strategy of knowing what goes away, is is move retired machines into an AD group and trigger agent uninstall job on members of this group. That way a manual step is required to remove the agent, and you still retain the hardware asset details for a period of time that suits you.
Scott
One method I have heard being used, which takes the best of your idea, and combines it with Chris' strategy of knowing what goes away, is is move retired machines into an AD group and trigger agent uninstall job on members of this group. That way a manual step is required to remove the agent, and you still retain the hardware asset details for a period of time that suits you.
Scott
Posted by:
crawl
12 years ago
sajer137 - this question isn't meant as a troll post or anything like that but I'm wondering why you are moving away from SCCM? We're reviewing other imaging products too so that is what is driving my question. We currently do not use SCCM but it is one of our options. Feel free to send a PM if you don't care to share the reasons in this thread.
Thanks!
James
Thanks!
James
Posted by:
airwolf
12 years ago
We tried SCCM 2007 and moved to the K1000 (back when it was just the 'KBOX') for quite a few reasons:
- SCCM remote site appliances (forget exactly what they are called) cannot act as PXE servers. All PXE traffic must be routed back to the primary SCCM server - this was not possible with our communications equipment (since we use 3COM switches/routers and they cannot port forward - they 'intelligently' route types of packets, and SCCM uses modified PXE packets (i.e. non-standard).)
- SCCM requires about 10x as much administrative overhead for configuration and management.
- The SCCM interface is anything and everything but user-friendly. MMC 3.0 also likes to crash quite often.
- SCCM is ungodly expensive - especially if you don't have an EA with MS.
- Throttling to remote sites is a global setting in SCCM. With the K1000, we can throttle each site down to the hour and day of the week... Polar opposites.
- SCCM cannot act as a help desk... SCCM is sub-par for asset and license tracking... the K1000 just offers so much more.
Posted by:
crawl
12 years ago
Thanks Andy. Don't worry about being a Dell commericial. We get accused of wearing Dell underwear in our organization......Anyway, this is the type of info that I'm looking for! We get SCCM for free with our licensing but my experience with it so far haven't been that great. 2012 looks more promising but I don't want to be an "official release" beta tester like we've been for other products. Thanks again.
Posted by:
airwolf
12 years ago
SCCM was "free" for us at the time too - due to our EA. We STILL chose to spend the $$$ on the K1000. We have 4 admins for over 200 servers, and SCCM was a ridiculous time sink. Plus, some of those bullet points I listed were absolute deal breakers for us - like the inability to PXE boot locally at remote sites. You CAN do that with SCCM, but it requires full or secondary server licenses (not free and not the same as "remote sites repositories").
Rating comments in this legacy AppDeploy message board thread won't reorder them,so that the conversation will remain readable.
