KACE Launches Appliance for Remotely Deploying Windows and Linux

Published: August 16, 2006

by Alex Woodie

KACE this week unveiled a line of appliances that streamlines the provisioning of Windows and Linux desktops and servers from a remote location. With the KBOX 2000 Series of appliances, administrators can install fresh operating systems, or recover old ones, from the comfort and safety of a Web browser.

The KBOX 2000 Series consists of two identical-looking, rack-mountable appliances, including the KBOX 2100, which sports dual 3.0 GHz Xeon proctors and 2 GB of memory, and the KBOX 2200, which sports dual 3.4 GHz Xeon processors and 4 GB of memory. The KBOX 2100 can handle from 10 to 20 deployment tasks simultaneously, and is best for deployments of 100 to 1,000 systems, while the KBOX 2200 is designed for 40 to 60 simultaneous deployment tasks, and environments with between 1,000 and 8,500 nodes. The company also offers the KBOX 16, which provides up to 4.5 TB of direct attached storage for the KBOX 2200.

Deployments of both major X86 operating systems--Windows (including Windows 2000, and Windows XP), and Linux--are supported with the KBOX 2000 appliances, which uses the FreeBSD operating system. Supported actions include: remote disk image capture, archiving, and deployment; remote, unattended scripted installation; slip streaming of applications and files; an integrated library for archiving and managing images and scripted installations; remote system recovery; and a reporting component with pre-configured reports.

"The KBOX 2000 eliminates the need to run from machine to machine with stacks of boot disks," said Marty Kacin, president and CTO of KACE, based in Mountain View, California. "It takes the legwork out of systems provisioning with its unattended deployment and remote system recovery capabilities for servers, desktops, and laptops."

Pricing for the KBOX 2100 starts at $15,300, which includes the appliance, a license for 100 nodes, and a year's worth of maintenance.