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| | Author | Messages | |
David
Posts:50
 | | 07/21/2008 2:14 PM |
| 1) i've been through imaging stuff in the past where you would setup your reference machine manually and then sysprep and capture an image of it... then deploy that image.. simple. Now I am reading up on WDS and MDT 2008 and it seems you are going through mdt just to setup the reference machine, which would then be captured for later deployment? A) why? what benefit does this have? B) do you have to do it this way in order to use the other features of mdt, like task sequences? 2) multiple sites: is mdt 2008 a good choice when there are several sites (say 5 - 10) that need to be serviced? Every site basically has the same equipment and therefore the same images to deploy will be at each site... using wds along with dfsr to replicate the image store could work, but if you use mdt 2008 you no longer use wds image store so what do you do about multiple sites? My concern is that from what I've read so far there is a lot of time spent setting up the mdt server (importing os's, drivers, apps, etc) that I do not want to have to do at every site. I'm ok with doing all the config once but once I have may actuall install images created I simply want to deploy them at the other sites. Will I be able to easily just import the images and task seqences etc at the other sites? I have not installed wds or mdt yet (I will be tomorrow, I hope) so maybe once I get in front of it and start using things will become more clear, but right now I'm really getting the feeling that this whole thing is super over-engineered. | | | |
| Tim Pomerleau
Posts:16
| | 07/22/2008 12:40 PM |
| Answers:
1) By creating a Reference Image using Lite Touch, you are basically automating the image creation process and getting to a point where EVERY image you create is exactly the same. Since it is scripted, whenever you need to recreate it (patches, updates, changes, etc...), you don't have to start from scratch and can just kick off the LTI Image Creation process to get you updated image. You don't have to di it this way, you can create every image manually the way you're used to, but then 'Human Error' can creep in and mess things up... The 'Best Practice' is to use the LTI process to create you base image, and then use the same to deploy said image - but really it's entirely up to you. I prefer to use the LTI Image Creation process...
2) DFS-R will work fine. Just replicate the Deployment Point accross your environment, from you initial setup. Everything, LTI anyway, runs from a share. Doesn't matter where it is, so long as the target can get to it. There are mutiple ways to do what you are asking, but DFS-R is easiest, and works great. | | | |
| FarmerPete
Posts:168
| | 07/23/2008 9:47 AM |
| My company has 18 locations, mostly in the US, but some in Canada, Mexico, UK, Argentina, and Australia. Our links between the locations are historically awful. I setup the main distribution point in our corporate office (Half of all of our computers are at Corporate). I then setup separate distribution shares on a file server at some of the plants. At corporate, WDS pushed the MDT boot cd out, but in remote locations, you have to use a boot CD. You have to push the updates manually from the MDT console, but I have the added benefit that I can remove images, apps, drivers, etc from the remote plants. This save a lot of bandwidth. Some of our links are 256-368k connections. I also install a copy of the distribution share on my work laptop so that when I travel, I can always have an up to date copy of the distribution share if something comes up.
As far as scripted base images over custom ones, you can make images exactly like you have been, then take a imagex of the drive instead of using ghost. Add that as a source image in MDT, and you can make a task sequence and off you go. I personally have been doing it that way, but I am in the process of scripting my base image install. I want to do this because I am sick and tired of having old base images. I am not in charge of the image creation process, and the current people not only don't do it often, but their images are NOT consistent, even though they have very strict written documentation to follow. I've got 90% of the process setup as a registry merge. Once I finish, I can make a new base image once a month, and I wont have to worry about being out of date or being flaky. | | | |
| David
Posts:50
| | 08/08/2008 4:58 PM |
| | thank you, I appreciate the responses | | | |
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