Product category:
Manufacturing IT Platforms
News Release from: Binary Resource UK | Subject: Desktop standardisation
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 03 October 2005
Getting back in the Driving Seat
Stop drivers from controlling the management of enterprise applications by taking a more 'universal' view.
The management of enterprise applications is a never-ending task in many large organisations Software updates, patches, new versions and industry-specific solutions all have to be installed and set up to meet varied Desktop, Laptop, Server, storage-drive and controller requirements
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 3 Oct 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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When you bring drivers - the programs that control external devices (such as printers) and internal devices (such as sound cards) - into the equation, things become even more complicated.
Software-based cloning was originally developed to assist enterprise IT managers to roll-out new applications and patches across multiple computers in a few straightforward steps.
First a 'perfect' or 'Master' Desktop or Laptop is set up with all the required System and Application Software installed.
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An Image-File or 'Image' (a copy of this perfect machine) is then created and this Image is copied simultaneously onto multiple Desktops or Laptops which can then be thought of as 'clones' - exact replicas of the Master system.
Major software upgrades, application roll-outs or recovery of systems can thus be completed within hours rather than weeks.
However, both IT managers and cloning solutions have become victims of the fast pace at which hardware technology is evolving.
If an IT manager buys 20 Desktops of the same make, from the same vendor and via the same supplier as the machines he bought a few months ago, he will find that what is inside the 'box' may be very different.
Even if the new Desktops are functionally identical to his previous purchases, the pre-installed drivers may be very different.
While this may not seem to be an issue to the End-User, when it comes to managing applications across the enterprise this can lead to problems.
These problems are not insignificant.
If the cloning process is activated and the issue of different driver-sets is not taken into account, many hardware units may crash and be rendered inoperable as a result.
The downtime and possible data-loss that can result is simply not acceptable in the technology-dependent enterprise, whether a large public-sector body or a private firm.
Cloning works, but today's enterprise IT landscape is too diverse for it to work as effectively as it once did.
Now IT managers have to create multiple 'Master' Desktops and Laptops, which means managing multiple Images.
The time it takes to manage and update these Images, along with the necessary storage requirements they entail, become major issues.
Something that was originally designed to simplify the management of enterprise applications has now, therefore, become extremely complex.
It is not uncommon for IT managers to rely on the low-tech solution of using sticky notes to remind themselves which Images should be used to clone certain groups of Desktops and Laptops across the enterprise.
Even taking these precautions into account, after cloning has taken place it is likely that a number of machines will require rebuilding or additional programming work by the IT team - a time-consuming task that adds no additional value to the business and is frustrating for all concerned.
It seems incredible that something so small and seemingly insignificant as a driver could have such impact! Worrying for the enterprise sector, the problem can only get worse as new drivers are constantly being added to the Windows hardware portfolio.
Today it isn't just printer drivers being added to the list of hardware 'add-ons' - a multitude of drivers exist for various DVD and CD readers and writers, Blackberries and PDA's, digital cameras, VoIP-enabled telephones, iPods, digital scanners, audio systems, USB devices, video and sound cards, minidisks and so on.
In addition, many of the chips on the actual motherboards are becoming so advanced that they require their own software drivers.
It is extremely difficult for any organisation to keep up with driver developments.
This leaves IT teams at the mercy of the drivers that may be in place in their hardware.
This is clearly not a very efficient or effective outcome, and it prevents IT managers from taking full advantage of the benefits of Cloning technologies.
A Universal Solution There is a solution to the issue of new drivers constantly being developed and shipped.
Installing a universal Imaging solution delivers significant business and economic benefits.
Intel went to the time and expense of developing it's own universal Imaging software because it recognised just how significant those benefits can be.
When it was upgrading it's Windows software across about 60,000 PC's and other hardware devices, it estimated a saving of $3 billion by using this software.
Intel has gone on to save approximately $1 billion each year in reduced maintenance and application-update timescales.
These are not figures to be ignored even on a smaller scale, but enterprises need not take Intel's route of developing their own universal Imaging software.
The Universal Imaging Utility (UIU) 2.0 has been developed by Big Bang Software , in conjunction with Binary Research International (the team that brought the first software-cloning solution, Ghost (which is now part of Symantec's portfolio of solutions), to the world).
Binary Research International is also the worldwide Master Distributor of UIU.
UIU prepares an 'ideal' Desktop or Laptop such that, once an Image File is created, all of the drivers that will be needed on all of the target machines, are already in place.
This enables the IT team to create a 'one-shoe fits all' Image so that almost any piece of hardware targeted for cloning will have all the applications and drivers it requires to operate.
With rare exception (the Driver database is constantly growing), any Window's 98, 2000, or XP computer can now be cloned successfully - greatly reducing the cloning time from set-up of the perfect Master unit to tweaking individual Desktops, Laptops or Servers.
The time, space and cost savings make a universal Imaging solution a critical application in the enterprise environment.
The cloning process, designed to make application roll-out quick and pain-free, can again operate to its full potential, enabling the IT team to focus on projects that add real value to the business while improving profit margins.
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