Posted on Fri, Feb 11, 2011
A lot of my time this week has been put to use on imaging machines, ninety or so of them. I have never really done much of this but found it not too hard at all!
I have been imaging them seven at a time using my KVM, a switch, and Ghostcast. Plug them into the KVM and boot them with your favourite boot CD (I use Hirens as it has so many tools).
Once they boot into Hirens, choose Backup tools (2), then Ghost (4), and then Ghost with network support.
From there it is as easy as choosing the image and the drive you want the image on and pressing go. You do need to have ghostcast on your main machine, and that is a breeze to use too. Open it up and choose the image you want to clone onto the machines, give it a name, and hit send.
Network speed might be an issue in a busy office. The longest it has taken me is 3.5 hours to image seven machines, but on days that the office is quiet it goes a lot faster!
On a side note, getting all the machines unboxed and setup, then back in the boxes when finished is quite a good workout!
Kristen Hewes - Hardware Technician
Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!
Sincerely, Terminal We Serve All of Greater Boston and Cambridge, MA
Posted on Tue, Jan 04, 2011
So what’s your backup plan? This week I came across a lot of imaging. You may ask yourself what imaging is and why it is useful in IT.
Imaging is a way to save all of your data to transfer to a new hard drive or create a backup for restore reasons in case anything goes south with your computer. It allows you to restore your information with your settings, programs, files, and folders intact.
You may even use it and not be aware of it. Programs like Acronis, Symantec Ghost, and Symantec System Recovery make types of files for quick data recovery.
So which product is best for you? Symantec Ghost is a great program but is a little more expensive than Acronis. If you are technically saavy, Ghost is great because of its many uses. Acronis is most user-friendly and has scheduled and one-click imaging software features. Although Symantec System Recovery is geared more towards server use and comes at a cost, its ease of use and friendly pick-through options help make life that much easier if anything does go awry with your system. In turn, this may save you time and money on consulting fees.
Feel free to Contact Us for any assistance with your data recovery or data transfer.
Dennis Foote- Systems Engineer
Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!
Sincerely, Terminal We Serve All of Greater Boston and Cambridge, MA