The deployment server supports Intel’s Wired for Management application and PXE for loading an OS from a remote boot. It also
supports Altiris’ BootWorks, a single DOS-based boot floppy that connects to the Notification Server to complete OS installation
on a system without a PXE adapter.
Creating and deploying OS images is relatively simple and easily managed. In addition to images of a complete OS, you can
also create installation images of applications, patches, or service packs, and deploy them automatically, on demand, or manually.
Images are easy to capture and deploy, and SPS can migrate user settings (registry entries, configuration files, and so forth)
as well, simplifying the process of moving a user from one system to another.
SPS can also integrate with Microsoft SMS to provide a full-featured server and application management and deployment environment.
The next version, due in February 2004, will support multiple Notification Servers and integrate with Microsoft’s ADS. This
combines SPS’s non-Windows server management and deployment features with ADS’ easy deployment to different hardware types.
$300 per node is already inexpensive, but the full-featured SPS suite should save organizations far more than that in administrators’
time over the course of a year. Unless your organization has been running the same OS version and patch level on all its servers
for the last several years, this is a product you should consider.
ZENworks 6
The ZENworks 6 suite includes ZENworks for Servers 3.02, ZENworks
for Desktops 4, and ZENworks for Handhelds. The first two are necessary for a complete deployment solution -- ZENworks for
Servers doesn’t do OS deployment, leaving it to ZENworks for Desktops.
ZENworks no longer requires that NetWare be installed in the network, but it does require Novell’s eDirectory, which runs
on NetWare, Windows NT, or Windows 2000. It also requires the Apache Web server, Tomcat app server, Java Virtual Machine,
and Novell ConsoleOne software. There is no integrated installation for these pieces, so, as with SPS, you must take the time
to address each one separately.
Once all this support software is installed, ZENworks delivers an extremely powerful directory-based deployment and management
solution. It can deploy OSes, patches, or apps based on a server’s role and alter any aspect of the system if that role changes.
ZENworks provides a single interface to manage Windows NT Server and Windows Server 2000 and Linux and Solaris servers as
well as monitor network and server loads and health and control servers remotely.
As with SPS, ZENworks has a wealth of features extending beyond OS deployment. The role-based management extends down to the
user or workstation level; since most systems administrators must manage both servers and users, being able to do both from
a single console is a boon.
Network managers unfamiliar with NetWare may be initially reluctant to consider ZENworks 6, but the functionality is powerful
and eDirectory is not difficult to install. The other installation and management requirements are no more difficult than
those of the Altiris solution, and eDirectory delivers a level of granular control and a host of automation possibilities
that SPS cannot yet match.
Provisioning Choices
There’s a direct relationship between the dedicated nature of the deployment software and its complexity. When a product strives
to be heterogeneous and comprehensive, it becomes more difficult to deploy and to use, hence the understandable complexity
of SPS and ZENworks.
ADS has the most limited server OS deployment of these three options, but it’s also free and simple to set up and use. SPS
and ZENworks 6 are relatively complex to install and expensive compared to ADS, but provide more features and support for
more OSes. This begs the question: If both SPS and ZENworks offer more features, why use ADS? One simple answer -- it’s free.
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