Defining Disk Images

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

A disk image contains the operating system, software applications, and configuration settings that you want to copy onto a group of computers. Most corporate rollouts, regardless of size, require more than one disk image. However, it is a good idea to minimize the number of disk images your organization uses. Creating and maintaining a disk image is time-consuming and requires ongoing maintenance as your organization’s hardware and software needs change. Having fewer disk images reduces the total cost of ownership and simplifies the deployment process.

Several factors influence how many disk images you need.

Operating system versions   You need to create a separate disk image for each version of the operating system you are deploying. For example, if you are deploying Windows XP Professional, Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, and Windows Server 2003, Web Edition, you will need at least three disk images.

Hardware   You might have to create additional disk images if the destination computers have different peripheral devices or hardware configurations. For example, you cannot copy a disk image that contains an ACPI HAL onto a computer that requires a non-ACPI HAL. In this case, you have to create separate images for an ACPI HAL and a non-ACPI HAL. Portable computers are another example of hardware that commonly requires a separate disk image.

Software   You might have to create additional disk images if you are deploying different software configurations and you do not want to install and configure software after the image-based installation is complete. You might also have to create additional disk images if you need to install proprietary line-of-business applications or special tools onto a specific group of computers (for example, portable computers).

Operating system and software settings   You might want to create additional disk images for computers that require special operating system or software settings. For example, if you want to configure special local policy settings for a group of computers, and you do not want to do this by using a script after the image-based installation is complete, you can create a separate disk image that includes the special policy settings for that group of computers.

In addition to reducing the number of disk images you need to maintain, try to reduce the size of your disk images. This reduces the time it takes to transfer disk images across a network, and it reduces the time it takes to create disk images of your master computers. For more information about reducing the size of your disk images, see "Optimizing Your Images" in the Microsoft Windows Corporate Deployment Tools User’s Guide (Deploy.chm). Deploy.chm is included in the Deploy.cab file in the Support folder on the Windows Server 2003 operating system CD.

For a worksheet to help you in defining your disk images, see "Disk Image Worksheet" (ACISYS_1.doc) on the Windows Server 2003 Deployment Kit companion CD (or see "Disk Image Worksheet" on the Web at https://www.microsoft.com/reskit). You will need a separate copy of the worksheet for each disk image. You will also need the information from your software and hardware inventories to define your disk images.

Figure 3.3 shows the design steps you need to follow to define your disk images.

Figure 3.3   Defining Disk Images