2. Windows Deployment Methods
Deployment technologies in a Windows Server 2008 R2 network help
deploy both Windows clients and Windows servers. The following section
discusses deployment methods that relate to both Windows client and
server technologies.
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are typically deployed in
one of four ways: by means of the product DVD, a network share
(optionally with the help of Windows AIK and, potentially, Microsoft
Deployment Toolkit 2010), Windows Deployment Services, or System
Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3. Each of these four methods
offers an increasing level of automation, but each method also
requires an increasing amount of resources, expertise, and
preparation. The most suitable method for you to use depends on the
resources you have available, the size of your organization, and the
number of deployments you need to make.
2.1 Installing from the Product DVD
Often, the easiest way to deploy Windows onto a single
computer is to run the Setup program from the Windows product DVD.
You can automate installation from a DVD by supplying an answer file
named Autounattend.xml at the root of an accessible USB Flash Device
(UFD) drive or floppy disk when you begin the program. This
deployment method is most suitable when no high-bandwidth connection
to the destination computer is available (as might be the case in a
branch office), when you are deploying Windows to a small number of
computers, and when no IT personnel are available at the site of the
target computer. Compared to other automated forms of deployment,
this deployment method also requires the least amount of technical
preparation, resources, and expertise at both source and destination
sites.
Deploying Windows by means of the product DVD does have
significant limitations, however. First, it requires more
interaction on the part of nontechnical end users than is ideal for
operating system installations. Even if you send users an answer
file through email, for example, the users must be guided to place
this answer file at the root of a UFD or floppy disk and restart the
computer with that disk and the product DVD loaded. A second
limitation of the media distribution method is that it does not
allow for any additional drivers or updates (called configuration
sets) to be installed as part of Setup without significant technical
expertise at the site of the end user. Finally, the physical media
must be distributed to every target computer, so installation can
occur simultaneously on only as many computers as the number of
product DVDs you have available.
2.2 Network Share Distribution
You can deploy installations of Windows Vista, Windows 7,
Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2 from a network share
by using the Windows Setup program, by applying a WIM file image, or
by using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010.
In the first method, the contents of the Windows product media
are stored on the network share. You can then either keep the
default version of Install.wim or replace it (and associated catalog
files) with an image of your own custom-configured master
installation. Setup is then launched from the command prompt in
Windows PE on the local computer. You can use the
/unattend switch to specify an answer file if
desired. For example, if you have mapped a drive Y to the network share containing the installation files and
saved a deploy_unattend.xml answer file in the same share, you could
start the local computer by means of Windows PE and type the
following: Y:\setup.exe
/unattend:deploy_unattend.xml.
In the second method, you store a captured WIM file image of a
Sysprepped master installation on a network share. You
can then keep an answer file inside the installation in the
following location:
%SystemRoot%\Panther\Unattend. (The name of the
answer file must be Unattend.xml or Autounattend.xml.) Finally, on
the target computer, you can apply the Windows image by using
Windows PE and ImageX. For example, if you have mapped a drive Y to
the network share containing the WIM file images, you would start
the local computer by using Windows PE and type the following:
Imagex /apply Y:\myimage.wim 1
c:.
In the third method, you download Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 Update 1 (MDT 2010)
from the Microsoft website and install this software on a selected
computer (called a technician computer) that
stores deployment files on network shares. MDT 2010 includes a Deployment Workbench interface that helps configure
installations through network shares and enables you to include
extra applications, packages, and drivers as part of an automated
network deployment. Finally, MDT 2010 enables you to create a boot
CD for clients that automatically connects to the technician
computer and makes installation relatively easy for nontechnical
users.
Deploying Windows through a network share is a suitable
solution when sufficient bandwidth exists to copy very large files
across the network, when you need to deploy only a small number of
computers (between five and 20), and when the network environment
does not include an Active Directory domain service (AD DS) domain
or the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 network
management application.
The main disadvantage of this method is that it is not
completely automated: It requires someone to be present at the site
of the target computer who will start Windows PE and either run
appropriate commands or, in the case of MDT 2010, choose appropriate
selections and enter appropriate credentials in the deployment
wizard. Unlike Windows Deployment Services (WDS), this solution does
not automatically begin deployment from starting a bare-metal
computer without using a special CD and without knowing any network
credentials. Unlike System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3,
this solution does not allow an administrator to push an operating
system automatically to a remote computer without anyone present at
that computer.
