Ghost or software packaging?

[ajbritton]

I have moved from Ghost to RIS for the following reasons;

 

1 - Ghost images are big, and each new type of PC, or configuration (set of software) requires another image (we're talking lots of gigabytes). I know disk space is cheap, but sooner or later you have to back it up. You can create a dozen RIS images and still only use up 1Gb of disk space (thanks to the Single Instance Storage system.

 

2 - Ghost images are non reversible. If an image suddenly becomes unstable, there is no surefire way of removing the conflicting apps. RIS builds are clean EVERY SINGLE TIME. If you have apps which conflict, de-allocate them using GP then rebuild your PCs. In my experience, even older PCs with quite a lot of software build quite quickly.

 

3 - Ghost images are hardware or configuration specific. If the school goes out and buys some new PCs, a completely new Ghost image is required. This might take anything up to a day with lots of software (and you better make sure you install everything EXACTLY the same as in all your other images), and need a load more hard disk space. A new RIS image can be created by duplicating a basic XP image and adding the necessary drivers. Job done.