BrendanRichman

Sorry @apeo, only just seen your question! To clone a whole suite (or lab) would take us around 2-3 hours. That's with 3-4 drives, and 2 of us doing it. I'm not certain on how we charge labour, but I do believe when we do new installs of suites etc. it is usually charged at a set rate, based on the job. Most schools we service have a monthly contract with us, ranging from 4 hours a week (which is actually a surprisingly large amount of time to maintain some schools) to 2 hours a month (again, they cope (due to budgets I guess)!), to ad hoc support where we visit only when required. No two schools are the same infrastructure-wise or in the level of support they need, so we have to taylor it specifically to their needs! Hope that's cleared everything up for you!

No, that's about right! It barely compresses the image, which oddly enough - actually makes it backup and restore faster, since it doesn't have to compress the files on backup, and de-compress on restore. Obviously it depends on the image itself and what it holds, but 20gb for a normal school installation sounds about right (you'd be surprised at how much software can't be deployed via GPO or run from the server...!).

Yeah I completely agree, and for the most part we do - but this time is spent learning new software or experimenting with new hardware etc. ...unfortunately I think our imaging system comes under 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Like I said before, we do find it works really well, but I'm just toying with new ideas about how to image workstations that could make better use of our time (although it is unnecessary presently) and was asking this forum for their input. It is definitely not because we are generally 'behind the times'!

It's unfortunate really, since we are a separate business looking after many schools ICT support, we rarely get the chance to experiment with new ways of doing things (apart from OS upgrades etc.) as we are always on the go! I've not discussed this with my colleagues yet, but I feel the need to experiment with technologies and to find a more efficient way of OS deployment. The downside is, this will be down on my own time... (so probably won't get done - as I like to have a slither of free time sometimes *shocking I know in IT!*)!

That's why I prefer doing my imaging personally (sitting at a machine), to make sure they work. With Acronis and Universal Restore, it's a bit trial and error, but eventually you will build an image that will work with every machine you put on it, without fail! At least that's how we do it! The problem with programs like Ghost (and maybe FOG), is that it is hard to restore an image to hardware which is different to what the image was made with - you can't specifically tell the program what computer uses which hardware, and to inject what drivers into what computer. Using a USB hard drive and flash drive (or CD) to boot - it's surprisingly efficient!

I will definitely suggest it to my colleagues (only a small business with a select few of us!)! If it works (and I've no doubt it doesn't - judging from testimonials in here!), then we may well be trialling it in some of our schools!

Fair enough guys! I will definitely look into FOG for our next suite installation (looking after 30-odd schools in Devon!), and I'm sure as you will know not all schools can afford top of the range networking infrastructure (which we always try to lean them towards!). I will admit it's a bit of an old solution (we use it because it's foolproof), but it works! That being said, in the world of IT, everyone's always looking for new ways to do things and to use new ideas, right?

Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents in case anyone is in search of a new imaging system...sure PXE is great, but it's also slow and sucks up valuable bandwidth (whole computer suite?). Just take a USB external hard drive (non-powered is ideal!), and use Acronis True Image. Takes an image of a Windows 7 machine complete with a whole host of programs (you guys know how much software some schools use!) in around 10 minutes, and even less to restore the image. The golden feature of Acronis which I personally love as I've used it many times in 'Universal Restore'. The ability to restore an image to dis-similar hardware by injecting drivers at the time of restore. Sure it's not the easiest solution (PXE wins hands-down for that), but for pure speed and efficiency, it can't be beaten. Using 3-4 drives a whole suite can be cloned in around 2 hours...! What are your thoughts guys (and IT associated girls)?

Best service I've found is Dropbox. Check it out!