Cloning NT Using DriveImage

Chris BrewParticle Physics Department

Rutherford Appleton Laboratorychris.brew@ rl.ac.uk

Outline

• Deployment aims• Deployment methods• NT in PPD• Cloning NT: Our experiences• Other issues• Conclusions

Support Aims

• Easy initial set up of new workstations

• Quick recovery from user problems• Propagation of new or updated

software

• As the number of PCs increases this becomes harder and harder to manage

Set-up Methods

• Set-up each PC individually:– By hand– By some other method

• Good for small numbers of PCs

• Have the PC set-up from a central server:– Microsoft SMS, NetInstall, CERN NICENT

• Best for large numbers of PCs

Set-up of the PPD NT Domain

• PPD does not buy into central RAL desktop scheme (except mail)

• 3 production servers:– PDC: web serving, print serving,

WINS, DHCP– BDC: file & FTP serving– Ntrigue server

• 1 test server• 80 - 100 workstations

NT on AlphaServers

• BDC is DEC AlphaServer 1000a• Main file server:

– 56 GB of StorageWorks disks– 10 Mbs network connection ( 100mbs

soon)

• No hard performance figures: adequate

• No real problems, but:– Some software not available– Fewer support resources

Growth of NT in PPD

0

20

40

60

80

WinNT All Other

In PPD

• To many PCs to set each one up by hand

• To few PCs to be worth investing the effort needed for SMS or NICE

• Solution: Set each PC up by cloning• 2 methods:

– NT backup– Disk imaging

Cloning With Different Hardware

• 80 computers bought over a few years:– 3 different network cards– 3 different video cards– 3+ different audio cards

• How can cloning handle this?– Before cloning - NT backup– After cloning - disk imaging

DriveImage

• Functionally very similar to ghost• Commercial software • Includes Partition Magic• Runs in DOS

– No problem with locked NT system files– Need to boot DOS with network and/or

CD

• Comes with utility to change the computer name and SID

Cloning NT (Stage 1)

• Prepare the ‘master clone:’– Install a reference system

• First a base NT inc. Network, video & audio drivers

• Then the additional software– Take time to make sure the

installations are the way you want them

Cloning With NT Backup (Stage 2)

• Use NT backup to copy the master clone to tape

• On the ‘target’ machines:– Install the ‘standard’ basic NT installation– Use NT backup to copy the files, but not

the registry, from the backup tape– Use various registry utilities to import

the registry keys needed by the software

• Total time for a target machine ~150mins

Cloning With DriveImage (Stg. 2)

• Use DriveImage to make an image of the master clone hard disk

• Apply that image to another machine:– Change the SID, name and IP address– Correct for different hardware

• Total time for a target machine ~30mins

Incremental Updates (Planned)

• Small changes to software do not warrant full recloning

• Sysdiff– Snapshots a machine and applies

differences to another– Can it be automated

• Still in the experimental phase

Other Issues

• Linux?– DriveImage can read and copy linux

partitions– Not personally tested– Hardware differences?

Conclusions

• For a small to medium sized domain, cloning with DriveImage is an efficient way of deploying and managing an NT domain.

• For the future, we need to look at methods of automatically applying incremental updates.