Here's the breakdown: - About 25 houses/apartment complexes, connected to site via VPN. Each site has 1-5 PCs. so about 75 PCs. - 7 WAN sites, about 200 PCs - HQ: about 700 PCs - Users with laptops that are not located in our offices, but at other locations (city jails, local schools): 100 and growing quickly At the houses and apartment complexes, I have one of the PCs there defined as a replication share (like a branch distribution point in SCCM). Tom
>>> Jonathan <[email protected]> 2/7/2011 9:52 AM >>> Tom - thanks for the feedback. How many sites/clients are you supporting with KBox? Jonathan - Thumb typed from my HTC Droid Incredible (and yes, it really is) on the Verizon network.On Feb 7, 2011 9:09 AM, "Tom Miller" <[email protected]> wrote: > Regarding the client comparing it to the KBox client: I used several > methods to deploy the SCCM client (when we used SCCM), and each required > some hand holding. Several PCs/laptops refused to install the client, > even after the various WMI rebuilds/etc the SCCM list suggested. I > always wondered by it was so hard for Microsoft to just create a > self-installing file like other vendors. > > The KBox client is easy to install. The only requirement is Net 1.1 to > be installed, and I think we had perhaps a few PCs (they were old) that > didn't have it. I comes with the client and will install if needed. > I deployed via a short script within a GPO. You can also do push > install like SCCM. > > Regarding connectivity to your WAN sites, you can throttle (speed and > time) distributions to your distribution point, similar to SCCM, but it > uses it's own mechanism. > > Again, just my experience, may not be what others have seen. And my > difficulties with SCCM were in part due to lack of time to dedicate to > it. > > Tom > >>>> "Ray" <[email protected]> 2/5/2011 2:19 PM >>> > > The one word I’d use is patience. > > We have about 15 sites (mostly prisons) across the state. > > I’ve heard about various scripts that’ll help with the “client health” > issue. Start deploying them. > > Step 2 would probably be install the “master”. There seems to be > endless variations on how, and how often, you want the workstations to > communicate with the server. > > Then I’d start trying to deploy the secondary sites. > > From: Jonathan [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2011 7:54 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: Re: RE: Patch management, revisited > > Ray - you make a good point. We're covering 13 locations across the US, > with varying WAN connectivity. Also, number of sites are the result of > past acquisitions, so there has been a high level of site autonomy. We > are the first internal IT department for the org to work toward > standardization. > This should be fun! > Given the multiple locations, literally from NC to CA and CT to SC, and > the history of autonomy among sites, any other thoughts/recommendations > on how to tackle this? > Jonathan - Thumb typed from my HTC Droid Incredible (and yes, it really > is) on the Verizon network. > > On Feb 5, 2011 8:32 AM, "Ray" <[email protected]> wrote: >> The success of SCCM would have to depend on your environment. If > you're in >> an environment with multiple locations that have had some level of > autonomy >> on hardware purchases, and imaging, and patch management, it could be > a >> nightmare. It seems to rely heavily on WMI. Speed is an issue too, so > if >> your WAN suck, you'll have issues. >> >> >> >> On top of that, MS support is at best inconsistent on how this is > supposed >> to work if you have multiple sites. The only way we finally got a > whole lot >> of this to finally work was thru our TAM and whatever that support > team is >> called. They spent days at our site trying to get it to work. >> >> >> >> I would hope most sites aren't as fundamentally screwed up as ours > was >> however. >> >> >> >> I agree that the product has an amazing amount of power. >> >> >> >> >> >> From: Michael B. Smith [mailto:[email protected]] >> Sent: Friday, February 04, 2011 11:50 AM >> To: NT System Admin Issues >> Subject: RE: Patch management, revisited >> >> >> >> If you don't do third party patches, SCCM is _almost_ exactly like > WSUS. It >> is based on the WSUS engine as a matter of fact, and you have to > install >> WSUS on the Software Update Point. J >> >> >> >> Doing the SCCM installation can be a little finicky; but once you set > it up >> - it just RUNS. >> >> >> >> The challenge with SCCM in my eyes is that it can do SO MUCH, that > unless >> you break it up into pieces (which is what I do when I teach classes > on it), >> it can seem utterly overwhelming. >> >> >> >> Regards, >> >> >> >> Michael B. Smith >> >> Consultant and Exchange MVP >> >> http://TheEssentialExchange.com >> >> >> >> From: Jonathan [mailto:[email protected]] >> Sent: Friday, February 04, 2011 1:43 PM >> To: NT System Admin Issues >> Subject: Patch management, revisited >> >> >> >> Ok, guys & gals, I've sifted through the threads for the past year > searching >> on patch management and SCCM, and not found exactly what I'm looking > for... >> >> >> >> In my new gig, the team gets to choose what we will use to handle > patches >> and updates, as there is nothing set in stone right now. Two options > have >> been mentioned by the team: SCCM and Big Fix. I don't know anything > about >> Big Fix, except hat they were just recently gobbled up by IBM and are > now >> part of Tivoli. What I've heard about SCCM is that it is a bear to > learn and >> manage. Right now we've got between 700 and 1,000 nodes (including > servers, >> both virtual and physical), and potentially slated for continued > growth. >> Some of the engineers have laptops that are NOT members of AD, and > they run >> as local Admins. That is probably NOT going to change. Also, we may > or may >> not be looking at needing to handle 3rd party updates as well. I've > run >> WSUS, but only for a few hundred nodes, and really only for windows > OS >> updates and nothing else. >> >> >> >> Finally, we need decent reporting tools that can provide us with > compliance >> reports on where we stand with patch management. >> >> >> >> I've seen Shavlik, Kace/K-Box, WSUS, SCCM, & GFI LANGuard all > mentioned >> here... >> >> >> >> 1. Am I missing anything any products that I should be looking into? >> >> 2. Are any of these apps not well suited for the numbers of nodes > I'm >> talking about (either over or under-powered for 700-2000 nodes)? >> >> 3. What's going to be the easiest learning curve/least > administrative >> overhead? >> >> >> >> Thanks, >> >> -- >> Jonathan, A+, MCSA, MCSE >> >> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ >> ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ >> >> --- >> To manage subscriptions click here: >> http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ >> or send an email to [email protected] >> with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin >> >> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ >> ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ >> >> --- >> To manage subscriptions click here: >> http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ >> or send an email to [email protected] >> with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin >> >> >> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ >> ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ >> >> --- >> To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ >> or send an email to [email protected] >> with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including attachments, is > for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain > confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, > disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended > recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all > copies of the original message. > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
