Overview

LANDesk is one of those desktop management suites that does it all. I, for one, am always skeptical of suites that “do it all” because it often means that certain features are noticeably lacking. It seems that all too often features are added simply to boost the length of the feature list and, to a disappointingly lesser extent the value of the suite as a whole. I am happy to say that this is not the case with LANDesk Management Suite 8, which has somehow managed to provide a very long list of features while maintaining a very well thought out implementation for each.

Installation

Instead of simply listing requirements, a nice front end is provided that checks for requirements and notifies if you have met them or not (see image at right). If any requirements are not met, download links to Microsoft’s website are provided to help you obtain them. Installation requires Windows Server (NT/2000/2003) and the system must not be a domain controller on the network. Once requirements are met and you begin the installation, setup prompts for a Windows NT 4 Server CD so it may obtain files from the \CLIENTS\MSCLIENT\DISKS directory. You are also prompted to provide a licensed Windows 98 CD so it can obtain files from BASE5.CAB. In each case, you must browse to the specified directory. While the reasons may be good ones, I found it odd to have to provide Windows NT Server and Windows 98 CDs during installation of a product on a Windows 2000 server. Additionally, having to navigate to paths on the disk that were documented in the dialogs seemed like an unnecessary inconvenience that could have been better automated.

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