Servers are critical to your IT infrastructure. Attend this session to learn how best to make sure they are running smoothly with the K1000: http://dell.to/1GDYpr8

1. Dell World 2014
Server Management
Carl Keller, Jamie Cerra, ESM Sales Engineers, November 5th 2014
Dell World
User Forum

2. Dell World 2014
Agenda
• Server Management - Defined
• Agent Installation– “New” GPO tool
• Server Inventory
• Server ITAM
• Labeling Best Practices
• Server Patching strategies
• Patching Clustered Servers
• Driver Updates

3. Dell World 2014
Server Management Defined
• IT admins are responsible for keeping track of Servers
• They need to track specific information about the shared system
• Dell K1000 routinely updates Inventory via an Agent or Agentless
• Software Compliance is critical as Server Software packages can be
very expensive – i.e: Visual Studio, SQL Server, Project Server; etc
• Securing the Server through effective Patch Management reduces
risk to an enterprise– K1000 patches Windows and Mac, we can
deliver updates to Linux
• Tracking firmware and driver updates (Dell Updates)
• Test against Standard baseline security templates ( OVAL or SCAP) to
identify vulnerabilities
• Reporting on all these capabilities

4. Dell World 2014
GPO Provisioning Tool
• Free utility allows Administrators to provision the KACE agent via GPO
• http://www.kace.com/support/resources/kb/solutiondetail?sol=133776
• Will create a GPO that can be linked to OUs or can modify an existing
GPO to add the KACE Agent installer

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GPO Provisioning Tool

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GPO Provisioning Tool

7. Dell World 2014
GPO Provisioning Tool

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GPO Provisioning Tool

9. Dell World 2014
GPO Provisioning Tool

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GPO Provisioning Tool

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GPO Provisioning Tool

12. Dell World 2014
Server Inventory
• Inventory of the server works the same as other managed
computing devices (scheduled scans)
• Hardware and Software inventories captured at same intervals
• Running processes inventoried
• Can utilize agentless inventory for Non-Windows based servers
• “New”… Agentless inventory works best with SNMP
• Agentless Inventory of Linux based systems will count against
KACE license count but other servers would not

13. Dell World 2014
Labeling Servers
• Logically grouping similar systems (collections)
• Ideally servers should be broken out into Smart Labels (dynamic)
• Can be grouped by any category (OS, IP Subnet, Software
installed, free space)
• Create labels thinking about how the machines need to be
targeted with patches, scripts, software installs
• Smart Labels can use inventory data to group machines
• LDAP labels utilize AD structure to group machines
• Manual Labels can also be used if LDAP and Inventory records
cannot accurately group machines
• Nested labels can also be useful… “label of labels”

14. Dell World 2014
Labeling Servers
• Example Smart Label - Inventory

15. Dell World 2014
Labeling Servers
• Example LDAP Label

16. Dell World 2014
Labeling Servers
• Example Manual Label

17. Dell World 2014
Labeling Patches
• Using Patch Smart labels allows for smaller more controlled
patch deployments
• Server patches can be split up from desktop patches
• Vendor and Impact fields very useful in developing groupings for
patches
• Any known patches that cannot be deployed can be excluded
from the label or marked as inactive

18. Dell World 2014
Labeling Patches

19. Dell World 2014
Developing a Patching Strategy
• Every organization has a different approach to patching
• Using patch and machine labels, patch targeting should be
simple
• IT Staff should sit down and map out patching strategies on a
whiteboard
• Setting patch schedules to be automatic for a test group and
then manually enabled for production would help iron out any
issues with patches before they hit production machines

20. Dell World 2014
Developing a Patching Strategy

21. Dell World 2014
Patching Clustered Servers
• Server clusters present a unique challenge
• All servers cannot be patched and rebooted in the same cycle
• Developing labels for clustered servers can control patching to
server clusters effectively
Cluster Server Schedule
Exchange EXCH-01 Thursday
Exchange EXCH-02 Friday
Exchange EXCH-03 Saturday
SQL MSSQL-01 Thursday
SQL MSSQL-02 Friday
SQL MSSQL-03 Saturday

22. Dell World 2014
Dell Updates
• Driver updates are only for Dell servers running Windows
• Dell Open Manage can help manage patching for ESX and other
hosts
• Similar to patching, Dell server updates can be grouped
(labelled)
• Driver and BIOS updates included in the Dell Updates can be
scheduled
• Make sure these updates do not conflict with patch deployments
• Develop a schedule to deploy Dell updates and test functionality
before pushing to all production servers

23. Dell World User Forum
Thank you.