Distributing Software

When the software has been prepared (that is, the software is in the appropriate package format and any customizations or transforms have been created), you can move the actual software files, including the package and any transforms, to a series of network shares throughout the organization. Typically, these software distribution points are located throughout the organization so that people can always get the software from a distribution point that offers reliable, high-speed connectivity.

Windows 2000 software installation and maintenance does not directly address the distribution phase. It will be up to your deployment team to test your software distribution plans and to ensure that your network bandwidth, and the placement and number of installation servers, is adequate to meet your organization's anticipated demand.

You can, however, also use other Windows 2000 services, such as the Microsoft distributed file system (Dfs) to manage the distribution phase. For more information about planning and deploying Dfs volumes, see "Determining Windows 2000 Storage Management Strategies" in this book.