Windows Deployment

With the addition of 22 Wintel desktops and laptops to an existing infrastructure of Windows XP and MacOS workstations, I figured it was worthwhile to see if it was possible to make managing the deployment and ongoing support of Windows workstations as easy as it was for the Macs.

OS X Server's Netboot/NetInstall capabilities along with Apple Remote Desktop make managing multiple OS X workstations a lot easier. Unfortunately, you can't use those programs with Windows computers so I set out to find what tools were available instead.

The first challenge - the budget. Or rather, the complete lack of a budget for ongoing IT management. Spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on commercial tools simply wasn't an option. Luckily the Open Source community provides a variety of options. The tradeoff in price though, having to find your way through abandoned or outdated projects and vague or nonexistent documentation.