www.patchmanagement.org
Sign up for the WSUS listserve.
1700 desktops is extremely do-able with WSUS.
HIPAA ....you just have to get a process down. It's a pain in the rear
but others are doing it. Sign up for that listserve and start asking the
"been theres, done thats".
Alex Alborzfard wrote:
What is the largest environment WSUS can be deployed effectively? At
what point you’re better off going with something like Shavlik or
Patchlink?
What do they give you that WSUS doesn’t?
We’re trying to put in place a patch management solution for a company
that’s midsize (~1700 users), but with offices scattered all over the
world.
But we’re not sure how to architect the whole thing (how many servers,
layers, and where-what’s the cutoff point:bandwidth, # of users?-).
The other issue is the industry we’re in: healthcare. We’re constantly
audited and for every single task we have to test, write validation
and justification.
So we’re not sure how can we do this, with so many patches MS puts out
every Tuesday, without going insane! And this is just for desktops;
servers are
a whole different ball of wax.
Anybody out there had to deal with similar issues?
Alex
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *On Behalf Of *Brian Desmond
*Sent:* Monday, September 11, 2006 9:34 PM
*To:* ActiveDir@mail.activedir.org
*Subject:* RE: [ActiveDir] OT: Management Solutions
*I use WSUS for patching in some decent size places. My strategy has
been to combine a variety of free products into a single system – I’ve
gotten good at it and I’ve also written glue when I need to. My
overall feeling is that I get more flexibility just gluing things
together than with a single baked product. *
* *
*Thanks,*
*Brian Desmond*
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
* *
*c - 312.731.3132*
* *
*From:* [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *On Behalf Of *Robert
Rutherford
*Sent:* Monday, September 11, 2006 6:31 PM
*To:* ActiveDir@mail.activedir.org
*Subject:* RE: [ActiveDir] OT: Management Solutions
I agree with Brian that Ghost does tend to be the front runner for
imaging (IMHO).. I’ve tested and used many but Ghost is a mature
project which does what it says on the tin. You’ll be surprised how
forgiving it is and how much you can do with varying software and
hardware with a little work.
In terms of helpdesk… well it’s a minefield and a road of I have
travelled many times. I have actually found that most of the time it’s
actually easier to get a dev guy to come in and build a system which
actually meets your requirements. I have found this to be cheaper
(most of the time) in the larger organisations as every organisation
has different SLA’s, contracts, processes, methods, etc.
I just recommend going onto sourceforge.net and typing ‘helpdesk’
initially. This should get you going and you may find something that
suits your needs or something you can amend to fit. Yes, you can go
for the bigger boys, i.e. Hornbill but you’ll pay for it….. have a
sniff around and see what fits your requirements.
In terms of patch deployment… I do like Patchlink. It will give you
patch deployment across most applications with good reporting. You
also get software and hardware inventory included in the price.
Cheers,
Rob
Robert Rutherford
QuoStar Solutions Limited
T: +44 (0) 8456 440 331
F: +44 (0) 8456 440 332
M: +44 (0) 7974 249 494
E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
W: www.quostar.com <http://www.quostar.com>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *On Behalf Of *Brian Desmond
*Sent:* 11 September 2006 20:26
*To:* ActiveDir@mail.activedir.org
*Subject:* RE: [ActiveDir] OT: Management Solutions
*I have a lot of experience using Ghost for all of that but helpdesk.
Helpdesk I have worked with Peregrine (will empty your check book &
very complex), TrackIt (kind of basic but folks seem to like it), and
customized free open source package called Liberum (so far my favorite). *
* *
*Thanks,*
*Brian Desmond*
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>*
* *
*c - 312.731.3132*
* *
*From:* [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *On Behalf Of *Alan J. Gendron
*Sent:* Monday, September 11, 2006 3:16 PM
*To:* ActiveDir@mail.activedir.org
*Subject:* [ActiveDir] OT: Management Solutions
I would love some feedback from those that actually use some of these
products. We initially started looking at a Helpdesk solution. It has
now evolved into an asset management, OS deployment, patch management
and license compliance package. I can’t tell you whether it’s evolved
to this because the package we are looking at has it or because it was
decided we could use the additional functionality. The current
front-runner is Altiris. Could anyone provide some helpful insight
into this package or a comparable solution we could look at? If we’re
going to spend the money, I’d like to see us spend it wisely. Thank
you in advance.
Alan
*/Alan J. Gendron/*
Senior Network Specialist
*^Lutheran **^ Church **^ Extension Fund ***
Sunset Corporate Center
10733 Sunset Office Drive
St. Louis, MO 63127-1219
314.885.6596
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