October 29, 2004, 8:08 PM — Last week I discussed the Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 Migration Toolkit. This week I am going to introduce Microsoft Windows Server 2003 - Automated Deployment Services (ADS).
ADS is Microsoft's latest evolution in operating system deployment solutions.
Some of the key benefits of ADS are:
* New imaging tools - Creates smaller images that can be updated without first being deployed to your servers
* Remote execution framework - Takes advantage of existing scripting investments, allowing you to administer hundreds of servers
* Virtual floppy - Incorporates standard server vendor MS-DOS tools into the deployment process in an effort to automate hardware configuration
* Multiple UIs - Choice of a graphical user interface (GUI), a set of command line tools, and Windows Management Interface (WMI) to allow programmatic interaction
* Centralized data store - Allows you to keep track of all of your images and modifications
ADS is a self-contained set of services and tools that will allow you to successfully manage and deploy Windows-based system builds/images. The only additional service required to run and utilize ADS is a DHCP server. The DHCP server service, as you can expect, allows you to boot your host machines onto the network so that they can access the ADS services.
You can find out more about ADS here.
Join me next week when we look at and overview of the ADS architecture.
