Imaging and deployment services are one of our most requested implementations. We can custom tailor a solution for imaging which works for you. Whether you want a bare bones deployment system over a CLI and ssh, or via a nice automated GUI based system, we use the tools that put the deployment potential into your hands.
No more time spent re-imaging workstations individually at the cost of a couple of hours per system. With NetInstall services, the automated techniques has been built into Leopard Server and can very quickly be modified down to the hardware model you wish to deploy, or even more specific based on the Built-in Ethernet MAC address.
We do many netinstall services for many school boards across the province working with Apple Canada directly. We have built simple systems in which a room of 30 machines is re-imaged at once, and have also built on the other side, where we can potentially re-image 2000 workstations at once through NetBoot load balancing, multicast Apple Software Restore with modular relay server at co-lo buildings all working in conjunction with a centralized PHP NetRestore database.
While most companies don’t realize the potential in this technology, in the long run if properly deployed, it will save thousands of dollars which are spent on technicians re-imaging software and applying patches. With the Apple’s NetBoot Services, which are included with Mac OS X Server, you get the powerful capabilities built into many Windows based solutions such as Nortons Ghost, but at no extra cost with no limitations, except for bandwidth. A general rule of thumb is that a regular NetBoot server can simultanioulsy re-image 50 workstations on a minimum 100 Base-T network.
A good rule of thumb is to realize that imaging calls for different tools in different situations. Some requirements only need the very basic’s of imaging, while others require more in-depth management. Perhaps you need your solution to be able to extract the data from a PostGresSQL database into a Microsoft Sequel database. This can all be done. Some of the tools that we use and can help you utilize are the following:
No more time spent re-imaging workstations individually at the cost of a couple of hours per system. With NetInstall services, the automated techniques has been built into Leopard Server and can very quickly be modified down to the hardware model you wish to deploy, or even more specific based on the Built-in Ethernet MAC address.
We do many netinstall services for many school boards across the province working with Apple Canada directly. We have built simple systems in which a room of 30 machines is re-imaged at once, and have also built on the other side, where we can potentially re-image 2000 workstations at once through NetBoot load balancing, multicast Apple Software Restore with modular relay server at co-lo buildings all working in conjunction with a centralized PHP NetRestore database.
While most companies don’t realize the potential in this technology, in the long run if properly deployed, it will save thousands of dollars which are spent on technicians re-imaging software and applying patches. With the Apple’s NetBoot Services, which are included with Mac OS X Server, you get the powerful capabilities built into many Windows based solutions such as Nortons Ghost, but at no extra cost with no limitations, except for bandwidth. A general rule of thumb is that a regular NetBoot server can simultanioulsy re-image 50 workstations on a minimum 100 Base-T network.
A good rule of thumb is to realize that imaging calls for different tools in different situations. Some requirements only need the very basic’s of imaging, while others require more in-depth management. Perhaps you need your solution to be able to extract the data from a PostGresSQL database into a Microsoft Sequel database. This can all be done. Some of the tools that we use and can help you utilize are the following:
- Apple System Imaging Utility
- Automator
- NetRestore (Now Retired)
- Deploy Studio
- Casper Studio
- Command Line Based Apple Software Restore (ASR)
- Apple Remote Desktop (Extra Added Cost)
With its simple to use GUI interface, the solution is a simple 1 to 1 solution, a more complex netboot infrastructure, or a more complex load balanced netboot restore system. This solution is by far our new favourite deployment solution. With is power, ease of use, and ability to build and deploy multi-boot based systems (Windows, Mac, and Linux), there is nothing we have found which comes close to matching this solution.