How To Differentiate Among Disk Software

Any of the following packages can be recommended depending on the situation. LANDesk can handle the management load incumbent with many nodes, and with minimal headaches. Altiris, one of the fastest-growing names in the business, should be considered alongside LANDesk, especially where large networks are paired with short staffs. For smaller networks, you should gravitate toward the easier-to-deploy solution from PowerQuest. If you place a lot of faith in the native Symantec product, compare it with PowerQuest's before making your decision. Symantec bought it for a reason.

Here's a closer look at each offering.

Symantec Ghost
Symantec Ghost Corporate Edition Version 8 has finally offered up a disk-management interface under Windows after many years of life as a DOS command-line tool. The latest software also provides a broader array of network-management utilities and has added a new Ghost Console. Everything installs quickly and operates intuitively, presenting a familiar Windows look and feel.

Ghost.exe and Ghost32.exe enable the basic backup-and-restore functions of drive cloning and are compatible with Windows 9x through XP. Images can be created and restored over common media (USB, FireWire, TCP/IP, Mapped Network Drive and LPT port connections). One of the nicer improvements to Ghost is that you don't have to wipe a drive clean in order to add a new backup partition. Ghost lets you set up virtual partitions on clients that already have operating systems installed.

Best described as a multiple, remote quick-restore application, the GhostCasting Server lets administrators restore multiple computers expediently while bypassing the Ghost Console. The GhostCasting application can deliver a single drive image to many nodes, either on a single subnet or by multicast across all subnets. Computer patching becomes a simple, rote effort. You can ID boxes that don't have a specific patch by using Client Inventory. You can then patch those computers using the File Transfer and Execute Command features.

PowerQuest
PowerQuest DeployCenter 2.0 (which has been acquired by Symantec) offers four primary applications to migrate or deploy Windows OSs. PowerQuest products stand out because they image while the drive is running and because they can restore it again in minutes.

• The DeployCenter software uses drive images to service networks with new or upgraded configurations. Administrative advantages include the ability to release images across a network of current systems or new ones (called PowerCasting). DeployCenter also enables disaster recovery for remote and local machines, reconfiguration of operating systems and setting up a virtual boot environment so you can create an image of a current system on the drive without having to wipe it clean.
• The Deploy Toolkit includes tools for automated imaging, diagnosis, partitioning, file restoration and recovery. These programs work with multiple Windows flavors and can be automated.
• The PowerMigration DNA application enables large-scale migration in a way unique to PowerQuest. An existing computer's DNA file can be moved to a new computer system in real-time; you won't need to create and then open the application on the new system first.
• Finally, when you need to thoroughly erase a drive, PowerQuest DataGone is available to overwrite all data, making it irreversibly unrecoverable.

Altiris
With Altiris Deployment Solution 6.1, the Web console is more tightly enmeshed with the management console. One administrator can act as many, deploying, installing and operating several remote Altiris Deployment Servers from one location. Jobs can be scheduled and virtual computers managed. A new security feature prevents unauthorized parties from sending jobs to all of the computers on your network at once (this setting is found in the Windows console; security features have been added under the import and export functions, as well).

But most of this deployment solution's muscle resides in the Deployment Server. This software nucleus enables real-time LAN management and deployment for any computer, including common mobile devices. You can run unattended installs from a Windows-based console interface. You can migrate OSs, software settings and updates as well as administrate and effect disaster recovery when needed.

The Deployment Server supports Intel Wired for Management and Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE), which loads an OS where none exists using a remotely initiated boot operation. (The PXE client-server interface technology is most commonly enabled via a ROM chip that's installed on new computers.) Altiris' patented BootWorks software is supported for those computers that are not PXE-enabled. The Deployment Server can be installed on one server or across multiple servers as a distributed installation. This enhances performance by taking advantage of broader compute resources, file servers and SQL databases.

LANDesk
LANDesk Management Suite 8 automates system management and control. Services cover patch and virus updates, software installations, audits, recovery and migration. From the same console, LANDesk lets you account for IT assets (audits are easier), control computers and resolve problems remotely as well as monitor software licenses, manage servers, install software, and image and migrate drives.

LANDesk combines a database, imaging technologies and console into a solution set of management resources. You can create and enforce software policies for specific systems on the network. Features include Targeted Multicast, which lets you multicast images, software, policies and configurations to preselected target machines. Targeted Multicast uses a temporary representative of a subnet to target specific machines; you won't have to initiate network changes or disruptions.

By using Peer Download, one peer can transfer an image to another for system changes or recovery. With Peer Download, you can pass software packages from peer to peer so you don't have to bog down WAN bandwidth.

Query tools enable you to investigate network status so you can stay ahead of network-management needs. The console is laid out more intuitively than with previous versions. Console views can be customized and saved for reuse. Console rights are configurable for security purposes. Certificate authentication between machines and consoles is available. This product can be used for up to 200,000 computers. That's a powerful number.

New to Version 8, Unmanaged Device Discovery helps you locate unknown devices on the network through a directory service, domain discovery or via ping sweep. You can schedule automated discovery of new devices and begin to manage these resources sooner.

In addition, you can temporarily authorize remote management for a device using the remote-control agent, after which remote-control privileges are suspended. The new console includes dockable windows, a network view and custom layout configurations.

David Geer (geercom@alltel.net) is a freelance writer based in Ashtabula, Ohio.