Re: Altiris Deployment Server vs. Microsoft SMS

[Matt Burnett <marukka () mac com>]

Ive used Altiris DS since it was LabExpert 3 and have gone to their
training. If you are considering DS don¹t bother going to training, its
useless, youll pay $1,000 for two lunches. Their trainers are morons and
their solution to fix a DS server that gives unknown errors is to reimage
the server! They never really went into security and since the introduction
of a web console I would be carefull. The management console does offer some
basic security features but not as much as I would like. I also don¹t know
what type of encryption they use for the Aclient password, which is used to
prevent anyone from remote controling a client machine. Other than thoses
security issues, the product does work fairly well, although watch out when
applying updates, sometimes they will break DS.

On 11/24/03 3:58 PM, "Steve" <securityfocus () delahunty com> wrote:

> I'll assume you mean "wins" in terms of security.  I think the security
> areas/issues would resolve around:
>   - encryption from the server to the desktop
>   - system admin management access control
>   - what else?
>
> Network Computing covered some of the above issues but not in too much
> depth.  You could review sales technical literature from both products
> online for your comparison.
>
> I tried getting SMS working years ago and would have rather hit myself in
> the head with a hammer, which I think we tried at one time during the
> deployment.  I have desktop management experience with LANdesk Manager when
> it was an Intel product and another product called Callisto Orbiter which
> was obtained by Novell.  We didn't really get into security issues with
> those products but I can see the merit of your question about security and
> desktop management, don't want some unauthorized person pushing some
> worm/keylogger etc to all your hundreds or thousands of computers for sure.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Depp, Dennis M." <deppdm () ornl gov>
> To: <ZyberGeek () comcast net>; <security-basics () securityfocus com>
> Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2003 9:09 PM
> Subject: RE: Altiris Deployment Server vs. Microsoft SMS
>
>
> What kind of desktops?  All windows or a mix of Windows, Mac and Unix?
> If all Windows clients, I think SMS with the SUS feature pack wins over
> Altiris hands down.  If you are running a mix, SMS is still a
> possibility, but you will need to purchase some add on tools from
> Altiris to finis the task.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ZyberGeek [mailto:ZyberGeek () comcast net]
> Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2003 9:03 PM
> To: security-basics () securityfocus com
> Subject: Altiris Deployment Server vs. Microsoft SMS
>
> Between Microsoft SMS and Altiris Deployment Server, which product could
> be
> considered to be the better one for managing several hundred desktops
> from a
> security stand point?
>
> Z.G.
>
>
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