ZDNet Australia looks at software deployment packages designed to help you reduce network administration costs.
We all know that the purchase price of a computer system is just the beginning. The support costs generally outweigh the capital outlay by about 4:1, but some of the products in this roundup may be just what you need to bring your rollout and supports costs back into line. Having said that, there are enterprise packages, which require a significant investment in training, learning and Testing, Testing, Testing. None of the enterprise systems is the sort of thing you can set up in a day. Testing your setup cannot be reinforced enough; you don´t want to become the IT manager who has to go before the CEO and say: “We rolled out the new image today and everything went fine, except for the 50 people just the other side of the black stump, whose machines won´t boot. We´re dispatching a technician now.”
Software deployment is all about getting the right software on the computers of the right people. Whether it is deploying a series of new point-of-sales systems, migrating the general manager´s laptop to Windows XP, or just installing the latest bug patches to Microsoft Outlook to keep the nasties out, a standard software base is essential in order to manage a large fleet of computers.
There are many levels of software management, but we have decided to concentrate this review on a few of the SME-level applications that allow for the in-house deployment, migration, and management of your desktop Standard Operating Environment (SOE).
There are three main stages of creating a Standard Operating Environment:
- Deployment Getting the initial image out onto the desktop.
- Management Keeping the image up to date and secure.
- Migration Moving on to the next Operating System.
Deployment
The first port of call when creating an SOE is to survey the user base and ascertain which applications are required, and by whom. This can also be a great time to look at your software licensing, as you have a fairly complete inventory of how many copies of each package you are running and how many you may need in the future.
The next step is to create an image for your systems with the required applications. This is where the headaches can start, as there are three main approaches, each with pros and cons:
- One size fits all: Everyone gets all the applications across the enterprise. This is easy to manage, but the image will probably be very large, the licensing costs may be enormous, and there is a risk that people will start playing with the application just because it is on their machine.
- Multiple SOEs: If you are running multiple images they can be a nightmare to update, but at least everyone get only what they need.
- Base SOE + Apps: This gives everyone the same base, and then rolls out specific applications just to those that need them.
Management
The next problem becomes one of how to manage updates. Not only do you need to make sure those updates are installed on the existing machines, but you need to make sure new machines created get all the patches they require as well.
Migration
When our friends in Redmond release a new operating system, there is a huge process involved in testing and training for the new OS, but you have to get it out to everyone too (eventually). Several of these packages provide migration tools that make the job simpler for the administrator and also retain many of the users´ settings which they have come to love, like the desktop pictures of their children and their Lord of the Rings screensaver.
Like many software solutions, software deployment and management need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. There are many pitfalls (including special licensing agreements and serialised license keys) that many be specific to your organisation. This roundup covers some of the available tools for maintaining the desktops in your organisation and the sanity of your administrators.
Altiris Intuitive > Manageability
Altiris has a four quadrant approach under the banner of its Intuitive > Manageability product line. These quadrants are:
- Deployment and Migration
- Software and Operations Management
- Inventory and Asset Management
- Help Desk and Problem Resolution
We concentrated our research on the Deployment and Migration and Software and Operations Management suites, in particular, looking at the Deployment Solution, Migration Toolkit, and the Client Management Suite.
Installation consisted of Microsoft SQL, then the base Notification Server and then the Deployment Server. The install asks for Win95/8 CD or boot floppy so it can make bootable images. A remote install of clients on NT/2000/XP machines is possible.
Altiris supports both new and legacy PCs in mixed hardware and OS environments. It supports Intel´s Pre-boot eXecution Environment (PXE), Wake on LAN (WOL), and Boot Integrity Services (BIS), and allows you to deploy and manage new PCs right out of the box. Altiris´ BootWorks technology provides similar capabilities for legacy PCs without needing to go to each PC with a boot disk.Once the system is deployed, you can reduce help desk calls and technician visits with remote software deployment (for printer drivers, patches, and applications), detailed system properties (including hardware and software configurations), LAN-based remote control and chat, and the ability to restore a computer to a known working state with a single click.
The Migration Toolkit is designed for organisations that have a desktop management solution, but who want to simplify their migration to Windows 2000 or Windows XP. The Migration Toolkit provides all the tools necessary for a complete OS migration, including Web-based Windows 2000 hardware and software readiness assessment and reports.The software distribution system enables you to package and distribute applications, patches, and updates on Windows and Unix systems throughout the enterprise, including remote/mobile systems.
This can be combined with Altiris´ inventory discovery software to better enforce corporate software standards, minimising software conflicts and ensure that the latest, most reliable software is installed throughout the enterprise.
The Altiris suite is relatively easy to use and provides an excellent range of features for deployment, management and migration of workstations.
