Monthly Archives: April 2012

Apr
27
2012

Freeze and forget with Faronics and KACE

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Anne Haggar

Poliroid snapshots We discovered that KACE customers are also Faronics Deep Freeze customers. In fact, some of our customers were trying to get Deep Freeze and the Dell KACE K1000 to work together in some smart ways. So we pulled together a team from Deep Freeze and KACE to determine how we can best build some integration between our products to provide some additional benefits and provide some relief to you hard working IT professionals.

For those of you who may not know about Deep Freeze, it provides the ultimate workstation protection by creating a “frozen” snapshot of a workstation’s configuration and settings. Deep Freeze is invaluable in institutions where both employees and students need full access to their workstations/laptops and need to have the confidence that their computers are up and running at all times.

Dell KACE customers who are looking to strengthen PC security and reduce technical support costs can use Faronics Deep Freeze to ensure that you will never again have to repair a computer damaged by a user’s accidental or malicious activity by including Deep Freeze as part of the Dell KACE K2000 imaging process. Any changes that a user makes to a protected machine will be eliminated upon reboot. The result is a computer that remains in the same perfect working condition it was setup in — days, months, and even years later! Another option is to use the K1000 to automatically “thaw” Deep Freeze computers and securely make changes REMOTELY from a central console such as updating software and performing critical patches and then have them now restart to the new “frozen” baseline.

This integration between the two companies provides enhanced security and lets you automate some of the time-consuming tasks that are necessary to keep systems safe.

If you would like to see a live demonstration, there is a webinar on May 3rd, 2012 at 10:00am PT. To register, go here. If you can’t make the live webinar, it will be recorded and available in our resources center on our website.

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Apr
26
2012

Simple Is Really Not That Complex!

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Saranya Babu

There is not a dull moment in the life of an IT administrator – resetting the password for the executive that constantly forgets it, hand-holding the VP who never gets how to configure his remote access software, and remote rebooting the computer of the ever whining employee, all while fighting the fast spreading virus attack and protecting the IT infrastructure, handling the sudden burst of installation issues from the latest software deployment, and furiously working round the clock to keep the IT infrastructure functional! There is not much one can do to avoid most of these but there IS something that CAN be simplified – Application Management!

There are hundreds of applications with multiple versions each that the IT administrator has to keep track of and add to that the dozens of different platforms and OS versions that these applications need to be installed on – the permutations runs into obscenely large numbers. The proliferation of applications, releases, operating systems and patches and user roles can quickly become unmanageably complex! Thankfully there is application virtualization technology that can whip the bull and tame it.

Dell KACE now supports Microsoft App-V technology that enables IT organizations to transform traditional applications into a service oriented demand based virtualized infrastructure. Together KACE and App-V help IT organizations cut complexity and improve efficiency through application isolation, accelerated deployment, increased visibility, better control and improved end user productivity. With App-V support IT administrators can do App-V sequencing which is converting a traditional application into a virtualized application, as well as package, distribute and manage virtual applications.

Join us for a round-table of experts from KACE, Microsoft and the Big Hat Group for a 1 hour live informational webinar on May 10th at 10am PT to learn application virtualization best practices with KACE and App-V.

 

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Apr
22
2012

Take Action and Be Green with Power Management

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Karen Spencer

Green plant life growing in soilThe fight for a cleaner, healthier environment continues with increasing urgency both as consumers and within businesses. Being “eco-friendly” and embracing “green IT” policies is no longer just an objective, it is an obligation. In celebration of Earth Day we invite you to do your part as an IT admin and discover ways to save energy within your organization. Wouldn’t it be nice to streamline systems management capabilities, experience real savings with potential power rebates, while fulfilling corporate responsibility?

 

Power management is a concern for many of our customers who are tasked with not only managing their systems but finding ways to reduce the organization’s carbon footprint. Cutting power consumption of PCs is one of the most obvious and common ways of becoming greener.  Power management provides direct savings in utility expenditures that by itself justifies the effort. For example, Bennie Driskell, supervisor of technology and support for Antioch Unified School District says, “We reminded people to shut down computers when not in use. However, even after the end of the school year when teachers and students had been gone for a month, technicians would find countless computers and printers powered on in classrooms and computer labs – a waste of energy and money to the District.” The school chose Dell KACE Appliances to assist in their green IT initiative and received more than $60,000 in rebates!

 

Regardless of the reason for wanting to manage your power consumption, the Dell KACE K1000 Management Appliance Power Management features provide an easy to use interface for developing a power control profile for an entire population of client systems, or unique profiles for specific groups of clients, whether they are Windows or Mac. Once created, the power profiles are deployed and enforced using the K1000′s powerful configuration management capabilities. A potentially complex and time-consuming process, power policy implementation and enforcement using the K1000 is both easy and fast.

 

Dell KACE is also approved for energy rebates in all 50 states and Canada – saving you even more money! Learn more about how the Dell KACE K1000 Management Appliance can work for you: http://www.kace.com/products/systems-management-appliance/features/power-management

Visit www.earthday.org for history, donations or to make a pledge to take action.

 

Happy Earth Day!

 

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Apr
17
2012

Setting up a Virtual Environment: The Right Way, the Right Tools- A live Web event

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Lisa Richardson

Most organizations understand that an agile and responsive IT infrastructure is critical forTow images one of a virtualized setup and one without today’s business success in our global, highly networked economy. The basis of a flexible infrastructure begins with virtualization. While there is no doubt virtualized infrastructures are becoming the norm and the number of applications virtualized will double over the next few years, organizations needs to begin to look at their virtualization plans through a long term lens.

Join Dell KACE and VMware experts for a live web event, Thursday, April 19 at 10 a.m. PT, 12 p.m. CT.

  • Get an in-depth look at setting up a virtual environment from VMware
  • Determine what tools will best complement your virtual infrastructure
  • Hear from a customer who virtualized 90% of their IT environment and how they did it.

Register for the Event

Make sure that your virtual infrastructure plan doesn’t go off track with poor setup or tools that don’t function as needed. Join us on Thursday, April 19 at 10 a.m. PT, 12 p.m. CT, to learn more.

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Apr
12
2012

Securing your Network via the K1000

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Christopher Blake

Did you know that with your K1000 Management Appliance you have the ability to discover security and ensure the health of your Network?  The K1000 combines the use of OVAL (Open Vulnerability Assessment Language) and SCAP Scanning (Security Content Automation Protocol).  These tools combined with K1000 Patching can ensure your Network is safe from many thousands of vulnerabilities.

Logo of OVAL

OVAL Is a comprehensive suite of tests which give extents you an idea of theof all the vulnerabilities your machines may have.  It is an internationally recognized standard to detect security vulnerabilities and configuration issues on your computer systems. To learn more about OVAL visit oval.mitre.org

To get started running a scan, simply browse to the Security Module, and click on the OVAL tab. From the Action menu here, you’ll need to configure the settings for OVAL to determine which machines will be scanned, and when. We recommend only running OVAL scans on machines when they are not in use; an OVAL scan can be rather intensive on the machine and may impact user activities. Once you scan your network for vulnerabilities you can then run a report under the Security section of our reporting module to review the vulnerabilities on your Network.

 

NIST logo with Security Configuration Checklist written on itSCAP allows you to choose which checklists you wish to evaluate such as specific OS’s or applications such as Microsoft Office. To learn more about SCAP and download benchmarks for this feature go to http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/ncp/repository.

To get started running a scan, you’ll first need to download the checklist zip files you want to scan, then upload them on the SCAP/FDCC tab under the Security Module. Next, like OVAL, you’ll define which machines to scan and when to scan them. SCAP may be less intensive on machines because it potentially scans for fewer vulnerabilities depending on what you have defined, but should still be used with caution when machines are in use.

Patching

If vulnerabilities are discovered by either OVAL or SCAP scanning, then the patches necessary to fix the problems can be included in a Patch Job scheduled on the K1000. While the tools are not aware of each other, you can certainly configure patches to be included that were identified as resolutions by the SCAP/OVAL scans.

The vulnerability can be identified, and the information for it can be tied to a patch that should be installed. The Inventory for the machine will list the vulnerabilities found under “Security” follow the links to discover what patches may be needed.

Remember that if you find vulnerability on one machine, there is a good chance that it exists throughout your network. While some vulnerabilities are known or even intentional in some cases, others may be surprising. This is in part why the SCAP & OVAL scanning suites do not have a remediation option built into them, but rather we leverage the other parts of the appliance such as Patching, Scripting, and Managed Installs to remediate what we discover in Security scans.

To learn more about using these tools see your “Patching and Security” guide at http://www.kace.com/support/resources/documentation for detailed instructions.   This guide can also be found under the “Settings” tab under the “Support” tab on your K1000.

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