The document discusses the contemporary challenges of system management in IT, focusing on managing both Windows and Linux environments, virtual systems, and cloud integration. It emphasizes the need for agility, automation, and effective capacity planning to accommodate rapid technological changes, such as explosive data growth and cloud adoption. Key takeaways include the importance of proper planning and tools for future growth, particularly as hybrid cloud strategies become essential.

1. System Management
Challenges
Michael Otey
President TECA, Inc.
Senior Contributing Editor
Windows IT Pro
SQL Server Pro

2. What This Session Covers
• Today’s datacenter requirements
• Challenges
– Managing Windows and Linux
– Management of virtual systems
– Monitoring and capacity planning
– Deploying and updating applications
– Preparing for containers and
microservices
– Keeping on top of inventory and licensing
– Cloud and hybrid cloud

3. Rapid Technology Changes
are Driving New IT Demands
• Vast increases in connectivity
– The mobile cloud connects 3.1 billion of 7.3 billion people worldwide
– They average 3 connected devices per person
– By 2025, 80% of the population will be
connected
• Explosive data growth
– Data growth – 30-50% per year
– IoT, Big Data, social, mobile data
• Rapid cloud adoption
– 90% of VMworld attendees had workloads
deployed in the public cloud
3

4. Today’s IT Requirements
• Agility
– Meeting quickly changing business
conditions
• Reducing complexity
• Increasing automation
• Consumerization of IT
• Reducing costs
– CapEX & OpEx
• Data control and security

5. Modern IT Infrastructure
• Heterogeneous “Best-of-Breed” implementation
• Virtualization
– The foundation of the modern data center
– Enables mobility
– Enhances flexibility
• Storage
– Scalability & flexibility
– Data storage efficiency – deduplication
– Snapshots & replication
• Cloud
– Flexibility & extensibility
– Disaster recovery
5

6. System Management
Challenges

7. Managing Windows & Linux
• Heterogeneous platforms are growing
– Standalone applications
– Microsoft’s recent adoption of Linux and open source
• User authentication
– Multiple authentication sources
– Build a centralized user directory and integrate standard
protocols such as SAML, OAuth 2.0, or Openid Connect
• Configuration management & automation
– Different tools and approaches
– Use personnel or cross platform tools like Chef and Puppet
• Log file management
– Differently formatted system and application log files
– Use open source or third party log management tools

8. Managing Windows & Linux
• Reduction of console sprawl
– Different platform management tools and
multiple support structures
– PowerShell
– Use open source &
third party tools
• Remote Access tools
– VMC, UltraVNC

9. Managing Virtual Systems
• Multiple hypervisors
– VMware vSphere & Hyper-V (60%-40%)
– Different management capabilities/tools
– Limited cross platform capabilities
• Siloed management
– Different personnel
• Lack of visibility
• Integration tools
– VMware has Multi-Hypervisor Manager
– Microsoft has VMM
– Third party tools
• Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF)
standards

10. Monitoring and Capacity
Planning
• Goal is improving capacity utilization
• Performance baselining multiple OSes and tools
• Virtualization hides capacity
• Creating service levels
• Under / Over provisioning
– Proper control mechanisms
• Forecasting business demand
– Analyzing the historical workload data
– Working in cooperation with business teams

11. Deploying and Updating
Applications
• Version differences
– Version control systems
• Multiple device support
– Workspace / VDI technologies
• Multiple platform targets
– Desktop, web, on-premise, cloud
– Cross platform tools

12. Containers and Microservices
• Moving away from legacy monolithic
applications
– Mode 2 – microservices
– Application redesign
• New to Windows environments
• Mixing legacy & mode 2 apps
• Different monitoring tools
• Docker provides a common
management experience

13. Inventory Management
• Virtual server sprawl
- Self-service VMs
• Users and developers
- Unexpected licensing
- BYOD management
- Inventory tools
- System Center
- Third party tools

14. Licensing
- Vendors use different licensing
- Products use different licensing
- Licensing is complicated
- Trend toward core licenses
- Virtualization further complicates
licensing
- Ongoing inventory is required
- Cloud and SaaS tend to simplify this

15. Challenges of Cloud Adoption
• Growing quickly
• Legacy Infrastructure
• Potentially lower performance
– Shared hardware
• Consolidation and pooling of
resources
– Giving up dedicated resources
• Adoption of new technologies

16. Integrating the Cloud and
Hybrid Cloud
• Moving legacy workloads
• Distributed applications
• Lack of expertise
• Multiple cloud providers
• Difficult to estimate costs
• Partners and third party tools

17. Key Takeways
• Be prepared for growth – more technology
changes are coming in the next few years
than ever before
• Linux & heterogenous virtualization will
grow
• Proper planning and tools are essential for
effective systems management
• The cloud is the future
– But that journey is a long one
– Hybrid cloud is the next practical step

18. KACE Systems
Management Appliance 7.0
(K1000)

19. Confidential19
• Scan in your new or
existing assets
• Multiple platform support
• Scan and GO!
• Free update to the K1
GO! app
Barcoding

20. Confidential20
• Pull data from multiple appliances
into single report
• No specialized hardware needed
Cross appliance reporting

21. Confidential21

22. Confidential22
• New easier to use wizard
• New features
• Multiple approvers
• Specific approver notifications
• Approval Timeout
• Customizable notifications
• Customize your templates with
HTML/markdown
Process enhancements & approval workflow

23. Confidential23
• My devices made easier
• Assign devices easier
• Multiple devices? No
problem
• Interactive feedback
• Get more info during
your install
Self-service software provisioning enhancements

24. Confidential24
• Hardware monitoring made
easier
• Real-time alerts
• Stay on top of your
environment
SNMP Trap Receiver

25. Confidential25
AirWatch integration
• Single pane of glass
• All your devices in one place
• Integrated asset management
• Assign mobile devices to users and
more

26. Confidential26
• Supports ESX 5.5 and 6.0
• Discover what VM’s are running
on your servers
• Get hardware/software details
from your VMware environment
• Get hardware usage available
VMware/Vcenter discovery

27. Confidential27
• My Profile
• More for your users
• See what
tickets/assets/devices
are assigned to you
Users

28. Confidential28
• Manually or automatically assign users to a device
• Control Panel > General > Device Assignment
• Synchronous occurs upon inventory
• Used in conjunction with user portal and “My Profile”
User/Machine assignment

29. Confidential29
• Installing software made easier
• Ability to leverage the software
catalog
• “Run Now” option added
• Publish for users
• Existing MI’s usable from
software portal
Managed Installs

30. Confidential31
• Blacklisting improvement
• Upgrade/Downgrade rights
• Asset Management Appliance licensing changes
• Agentless and grandfathering
• REST API’s/SDK
• Ability for 3rd parties to pull information about inventory, assets, scripting,
reporting, managed installs, and users
Software compliance/Licensing/API’s

31. KACE Systems
Deployment Appliance
4.0 (K2000)

32. Confidential33
• Native UEFI support
• Removes reliance on current workarounds (Legacy BIOS setting, thumb drives)
• Secure Boot still needs to be disabled
• Multicasting in Cisco networks
• Router vendors lack Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM) support
• PGM not designed to cross routers
• Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) is vendor agnostic
• IGMP can cross between routers/subnets
• Increased Windows deployment speed
• WIM and Kimage speeds 10% faster
KACE SDA Imaging Connectivity and Speed

33. Confidential34
• Major focus on underlying OS architecture
• Update to the K2000 Appliance 3.7 SP3 (3.7.345)
• Combined SDA and RSA codebase
• FreeBSD 10.0 to 10.3 for SDA
• FreeBSD 7 to 10.3 for RSA
• 32-bit to 64-bit for RSA
• RSA Hyper-V support
KACE SDA Infrastructure

34. Watch the webcast here:
http://bit.ly/2ilF7N6