Image Deployment Options
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So in this topic here Gabrielle.L is using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and PDQ to deploy images to her systems that need to be imaged.
Which fine, no issues with the tool.
But she says it take 1-2 hours to complete the imaging process to handing the equipment out. This seems like it's greatly mis-configured.
Here we use a Fog Server on a Fedora VM running from our XenServer Hypervisor. We've dedicated a NIC from the host to this VM for imaging laptops & towers. We've gotten the imaging process to run as quickly as 6 minutes. SIX Minutes, from a dead OS to a ready to handout device. The longest deployments can take 25 for Spinning Rust. Still way faster than 1-2 hours. In addition we don't have to install any additional software once the deployment is complete.
Now Fog uses iPXE to push a full image to the drive. MDT uses a file level restore process. (AFAIK). Is this process really that slow in comparison? Why would anyone honestly consider using MDT when there are such faster solutions?
Both solutions require similarities, something to push the "image", a network, and a target. So why?
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MDT provides a whole host of options that FOG/Clonezilla do not.
MDT allows for driver injection, application injection, WSUS integration, etc.
FOG/Clonezilla just push out an image to the endpoints. When they boot, they run whatever scripts you've setup for first time boot, join the domain, done.
But as George1421 said in that thread, using a mix of the two is a completely viable thing too. You can use MDT to build the base image for new hardware. Then use FOG/Clonezilla (Microsoft's own Windows Deployment Server WDS) to capture a sysprep'ed OOE machine that you then deploy to your endpoints.
Using MDT ensures a consistent build creation for the new machines, as well as pulling in all of the previously mentioned components.
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@Dashrender said:
MDT provides a whole host of options that FOG/Clonezilla do not.
MDT allows for driver injection, application injection, WSUS integration, etc.
FOG/Clonezilla just push out an image to the endpoints. When they boot, they run whatever scripts you've setup for first time boot, join the domain, done.
But as George1421 said in that thread, using a mix of the two is a completely viable thing too. You can use MDT to build the base image for new hardware. Then use FOG/Clonezilla (or MS has their own tool - damn can't recall the name) to capture a sysprep'ed OOE machine that you then deploy to your endpoints.
Using MDT ensures a consistent build creation for the new machines, as well as pulling in all of the previously mentioned components.
Windows Deployment Server pushes images out. Not sure if that was what you were looking for.
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@coliver said:
@Dashrender said:
MDT provides a whole host of options that FOG/Clonezilla do not.
MDT allows for driver injection, application injection, WSUS integration, etc.
FOG/Clonezilla just push out an image to the endpoints. When they boot, they run whatever scripts you've setup for first time boot, join the domain, done.
But as George1421 said in that thread, using a mix of the two is a completely viable thing too. You can use MDT to build the base image for new hardware. Then use FOG/Clonezilla (or MS has their own tool - damn can't recall the name) to capture a sysprep'ed OOE machine that you then deploy to your endpoints.
Using MDT ensures a consistent build creation for the new machines, as well as pulling in all of the previously mentioned components.
Windows Deployment Server pushes images out. Not sure if that was what you were looking for.
Thank you! WDS - yeah, that's the ticket!
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But I bake in all of the drivers and software I need right into my Image VM. OOBE & Sysprep it. Reboot, upload it to fog. And deploy it.
The process is very simple to complete.
To add drivers to the image I simply add them to a folder on the C Drive called "drivers". At the OOBE startup, the system scans for drivers and is ready to go in the aforementioned 6-25 minutes.
So I have to ask, again, why would anyone purposely choose a more lengthy process. I can push my Product Key to my images as well and auto activate it. Simplifying the process even more so.
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@DustinB3403 said:
But I bake in all of the drivers and software I need right into my Image VM. OOBE & Sysprep it. Reboot, upload it to fog. And deploy it.
The process is very simple to complete.
To add drivers to the image I simply add them to a folder on the C Drive called "drivers". At the OOBE startup, the system scans for drivers and is ready to go in the aforementioned 6-25 minutes.
So I have to ask, again, why would anyone purposely choose a more lengthy process. I can push my Product Key to my images as well and auto activate it. Simplifying the process even more so.
I would say 30 Minutes to an hour is our time here as well. More so since there are several pieces of software that simply cannot be imaged for various reasons. Our Desktop admin can have a new lab up and ready for students to login in ~20 minutes providing the image is already done.
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Adding @Gabrielle
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Sure, you can manually build your image in a VM, but how much time are you spending on that? MDT can do the whole thing for you.
Frankly for SMB it's probably not worth worrying about MDT, but larger shops, perhaps it is.
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@Dashrender said:
Sure, you can manually build your image in a VM, but how much time are you spending on that? MDT can do the whole thing for you.
Frankly for SMB it's probably not worth worrying about MDT, but larger shops, perhaps it is.
The initial image creation took a few hours investment sure. But otherwise it's just a matter of updating the VM with System and Security patches and software updates.
Which has to be done either way.
So "maintaining the VM" isn't much overhead.
