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[previous article] [next article]In an effort to continue to improve deployment of the T4E Intel Grant Windows NT workstations, the PC Support staff at ECN began using a software product called Ghost.
As a part of the T4E Project, the University is receiving a large number of Intel machines running Windows NT 4.0. Most of the machines are used in research projects across the University. Setting up each machine generally requires 2-4 hours. If problems arise, setup can take longer. Ghost is a software package that takes a snapshot of a PC's partition or disk. It then can push that image onto another machine or a set of target machines. With Ghost, we can install and set up a single machine, clone it, and then quickly push the image onto new machines.
Problems and challenges have arisen in trying to use this method of fast deployment. Windows NT uses a special ID number to distinguish each computer, called a Security ID (SID). Within a LAN, SIDs must be unique in order for machines to interact as expected. Previously unavailable, a new feature of Ghost, known as Ghostwalker. allows us to set SIDs and assure their uniqueness within the ECN.
We have completed our first test run of a "Ghosted" installation with flying colors. The Windows NT machines in Grissom 380, the "Aeronautics Design Lab", was recently installed using Ghost and has needed only minor tweaks since. Once the template machine was set up, each workstation only took 20 minutes to go from blank hard drive to fully functional Windows NT workstation. We hope to use this process of deploying new Windows NT workstations to reduce installation time.
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