Dell KACE K1000 as a Service

Features:

Full KACE K1000 functionality over the cloud

K1000 as a Service provides all the features and functionality of the K1000 on-premise appliance, including:

• Obtain accurate inventory – Discover and inventory all hardware and software network-wide, including laptops, desktops, servers, storage devices, Chromebooks, and connected non-computing devices.
• Improve license compliance and optimization – Optimize software license usage by accurately tracking and managing software assets.
• Perform software distribution – Remotely distribute and install applications.
• Deliver comprehensive patching – Schedule, automatically deliver and track operating system and application patches.
• Monitor servers – Log monitoring of servers, integrated with asset management, reporting and help desk.
• Ensure compliance – Comprehensively track assets and create compliance reporting.
• Deliver integrated help desk capabilities – Provide help desk with granular SLA controls that is integrated with asset management processes and workflows, a user self-service portal, and the K1000 GO Mobile Application.
• Improve endpoint security – Identify, assess and lock down security vulnerabilities.
• Enforce IT policies – Manage configuration and enforcement via pre-packaged or custom policies.
• Deliver energy savings – Create and deploy energy-saving power configuration policies.
• Provide complete reporting – Generate both pre-packaged and custom reports.
• Replicate remote sites – Use existing file servers to replicate remote sites in geographically diverse environments.
• Generate user alerts – Broadcast alerts for user notification of important events, such as the interruption of email service.
• Manage multiple domains – Enable multiple domain support for decentralized IT environments.
• Generate system alerts – Receive administrative alerts on a variety of computer and network attributes for easy exception-based management.
• Manage remote systems – Use remote control for centralized problem resolution.
• Access the leading IT community – Establish deployment best practices with exclusive feed from our ITNinja.com community, formerly AppDeploy.com.
• Various deployment options – Choose to deploy as a physical or virtual appliance if you are looking for an on-premise solution.

Features

• Inventory and IT asset management – Discover and inventory all hardware and software network-wide, including laptops, desktops, servers, storage devices, Chromebooks, and network connected non-computer devices.
• Software license management – Make software license optimization and compliance an easy-to-obtain reality with the Dell KACE K1000 Management Appliance's inventory, asset management and compliance reporting capabilities. Accurately track and manage software assets and upgrade/downgrade rights with the Dell Application Catalog. Own the entire software license management lifecycle with general availability, end-of-life dates, and manufacturer's suggested retail price information for the most popular software titles.
• Chromebook management – Get comprehensive hardware and OS inventory and asset lifecycle management, integrated with help desk, for Chromebooks.
• Software distribution – Remotely distribute and install applications and digital assets to Windows, Mac and Linux computers and servers across multiple locations.
• Patch management and security – Automate OS and application patch management and deploy patches from one of the largest patch libraries in the industry. Assess, identify and lock down endpoint security vulnerabilities.
• Service desk – Provide service desk with granular SLA controls that are integrated with asset management processes and workflows, a user self-service portal that gives end users the ability to solve many basic requests, and the K1000 GO Mobile Application for both administrators and end users.
• Server management and monitoring – Perform asset management and log monitoring of servers, integrated with alerts, reporting and service desk.
• Robust administration – Get up and running faster with minimal learning curve utilizing an intuitive, customizable user interface, coupled with a robust set of administrative functions.
• K1000 GO Mobile App – Access the K1000 from mobile devices, enabling you to remain effective even when you're away from a computer. The app also allows users to submit service desk tickets, access knowledge base and check on existing ticket status using their mobile devices.
• Dell Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) integration – Integrate the K1000 with Dell EMM to extend management capabilities to corporate-owned and user-owed laptops, tablets and smart phones.
• Multiple deployment options – Choose to deploy the K1000 as a physical or virtual appliance if your organization is looking for an on-premises solution, or as a hosted virtual appliance if you are interested in a hosted option.

Simple and secure administration

• Administer via any device (PC, tablet, handheld) using a supported web browser
• Comprehensive search across entire K1000 database
• Authentication, permissions and administrative rights management
• Real-time LDAP and AD integration
• Wake on LAN capabilities for after-hours maintenance

Ideal for distributed environments

• Remote replication and alternate download locations to effectively manage dispersed offices and local resources
• Easy-to-use configuration options for scheduling replication to simplify managing remote sites
• Bandwidth throttling and checkpoint restart to minimize network impact
• Dynamic policy groups to automatically organize and target systems at remote sites

Specifications:

Must establish a site-to-site VPN connection between K1000 as a Service and your network to obtain the full functionality of K1000 as a Service. K1000 as a Service imposes no additional requirements on managed systems and supports 32-bit and 64-bit architectures where applicable.

Feature Requirements

Some K1000 features require direct access to the customer's network, which is established for K1000 as a Service using site-to-site VPN connections. VPN connections leverage the shared K1000 as a Service network, and a single VPN connection is usually sufficient to enable the functionality for a single company. In some cases, however, additional VPN connections might be necessary, and dedicated network bandwidth might be required.

The following features require a VPN connection:

• Wake-on-LAN.
• Network Discovery, including IP Scan, Active Directory scan, and NMAP scan.
• K1000 Agent provisioning from the appliance.
• Importing and exporting resources (file sharing is blocked by the Dell cloud firewall).
• FTP access to backup files (FTP access is blocked by the Dell cloud firewall).
• Application packages and script dependencies must be uploaded using HTTP. Large package uploads could timeout on slower network connections. Packages larger than 2 GB must be distributed using an Alternate Download Location from an internal file server.
• LDAP user and device labels.
• LDAP user authentication.
• LDAP user import.
• Active Directory single sign on for the Administrator Console and User Console.
• Email forwarding, used for Service Desk tickets and other email communications.

In addition, the following User Console features are not supported in the cloud:

• Automatic software installations from the User Console (downloads are supported).
• The My Computer tab in the User Console.

System Requirements

Operating System Requirements for Agent-Managed Devices
The K1000 Agent is an application that can be installed on devices to enable device management through K1000 as a Service. The K1000 Agent can be installed on devices that meet the following operating system requirements. For additional specifications, see the operating system vendor's documentation. The appliance imposes no additional requirements, and supports 32-bit and 64-bit architectures where applicable.

• Windows
  
  • Windows 8.1 (Professional, Enterprise)
  • Windows 8 (Professional, Enterprise)
  • Windows 7 (Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate)
  • Windows Vista (Business, Enterprise, Ultimate)
  • Windows XP SP3 – latest (Professional, Tablet PC Edition, Media Center Edition)
  • Windows Server 2012 R2 (Foundation, Essentials, Standard*, Datacenter*)
  • Windows Server 2012 (Foundation, Essentials, Standard*, Datacenter*)
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 (Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Datacenter Edition, HPC Edition)
  • Windows Server 2008 (Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Datacenter Edition, HPC Edition)
  • Windows Server 2003 SP1 or later (Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, Datacenter Edition)
• Mac
  • Mac OS X 10.6 (Intel only) – 10.9
• Linux
  • Ubuntu (Versions 12.x, 32-bit and 64-bit architecture)
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (Version 11, 32-bit and 64-bit architecture)

*Cannot be running in Server Core mode

Operating System Requirements for Agentless Management
Agentless management enables you to inventory devices without using the K1000 Agent. Agentless management can be enabled for devices that have the following operating systems:

Browser Requirements for the Web-Based User Interfaces
To access the K1000 Administrator Console and User Console web-based user interfaces, use a monitor with a screen resolution of at least 1280 pixels by 800 pixels and one of the following web browser applications.

• Internet Explorer 8.x or later
• Firefox 20.x or later
• Safari 5.x or later
• Chrome 38.x or later

Screenshots:

Documentation:

Dell KACE K1000 as a Service Data Sheet (.PDF)