Dell KACE unveiled the latest version of the Dell KACE K1000 Management Appliance, which includes expanded visibility into the network through support for new operating systems such as Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, SUSE Linux Enterprise, Ubuntu Linux and Mac OS X Mountain Lion.


The Dell KACE K1000 appliance fulfills all the systems management needs of organisations of all sizes. This includes initial inventory and discovery, software distribution, configuration management, patching, security vulnerability remediation, asset management, service desk and reporting.

“Today’s organisations face a wide range of IT challenges including endpoint security, regulatory compliance, server management and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), which can make it difficult for resource-strapped IT teams to provide the services and responsiveness that their businesses are demanding,” said Lubos Parobek, vice president product management for Dell KACE.

Dell KACE's appliance-based approach brings improved security and better regulatory compliance to companies of all sizes. Some of the new key features and functionality include:

New OS support
Extended OS support is available for Windows 8, Mac OS X Mountain Lion, Red Hat 6, Ubuntu and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP2, in addition to Windows Server 2012 and existing and legacy Windows and Mac OS X versions, as well as SUSE Linux Enterprise and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This enables IT to support multiple operating systems in a secure and scalable way. As Windows 8 x86-based tablets hit the market in the coming months, the Dell KACE K1000 positions IT to support organisations and users that adopt these devices.

Machine inventory API
New machine inventory API gives IT teams the ability to view, track, report on and manage all IT assets from a single web-based console. For those systems where the KACE agent cannot be deployed, the API allows the inventory information to be scripted at the endpoint and pushed to the K1000 by uploading the generated XML file over a secure, authenticated and authorised HTTP connection.

Automated agent updates
Keeping the agents up-to-date is the first step toward implementing and maintaining security compliance. Automated, one-click agent updates enable IT teams to streamline downloads and push out agent updates to endpoints in a reliable and scalable way.

On-demand patch optimisation
With the ability to selectively download patches on a need-to basis, IT teams can support complex and diverse environments with multiple languages/OS versions without being limited by storage bottlenecks. This optimises the patching process and makes it more efficient and scalable to broader OS environments.

Multi-object reporting wizard
Multi-object reporting offers more powerful insights into the state of the IT infrastructure. This enables IT administrators to report on multiple criteria and view insightful correlations between different aspects of the IT infrastructure like patching schedules, software versions, hardware etc.