Pre-built images deployed directly onto machines without Virtualization

Question

I'm looking into a solution for our QA department that allows them to create a set of operating system images and deploy them to multiple machines from a central server without using virtualization.

Does anyone have any recommendations on a solution for this? (paid or otherwise)

We already have a virtualized environment. We need to test both. — , Apr 22 '10 at 11:29

MDMarra · Answer 1 · 2010-04-22T13:26:58.850

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Ghost, Acronis, WDS (formerly RIS), Altiris

edited Apr 22 '10 at 13:26

answered Apr 22 '10 at 11:00

MDMarra

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Except that RIS is now WDS – mfinni Apr 22 '10 at 13:06
@mfinni - I guess you can pick which option I listed that I haven't used in a while :) – MDMarra Apr 22 '10 at 13:26

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 22 '10 at 12:06

Windows? WDS - works perfectly. The good thing is that it is not a disc image, it images on the file system level (like a zip file, with all attributes), so the disc size is not important.

"ImageX" is the command you look for to make an image copy from an existing disc.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 22 '10 at 13:36

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Along with the others mentioned there is FOG. A network based solution that uses images stored on a central server and pxe boot for deployment.

answered Apr 22 '10 at 13:36

David

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it's the only one mentioned so far that i know can dump a whole OS image from a server. centrally managed too. – Javier Apr 22 '10 at 15:34

Pre-built images deployed directly onto machines without Virtualization

3 Answers3