======================================================================== ENTERPRISE WINDOWS: OLIVER RIST http://www.infoworld.com ======================================================================== Monday, October 11, 2004
EASE THOSE THROBBING MIGRATION HEADACHES By Oliver Rist Posted October 08, 2004 3:00 PM Pacific Time Looks like PC sales are projected to increase this year, at least according to market watchers, including IDC. That's a little mystifying to me, considering that Redmond isn't releasing a new OS anytime soon. But I suppose a slew of new processors, hotter graphics cards, and PCI Express are enough to lure a number of performance-hungry folk. Not to mention the continuing epic of 64 bits and the ecstasy of networked Doom 3 after 5:00. ADVERTISEMENT -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Grid computing Evolutionary my dear, evolutionary Tune in to this new webcast Steps to Success for Implementing Grid Computing for a detailed look at this powerful concept. Get best practice advice on deploying a grid-type architecture that is evolutionary, not revolutionary. Sign up today. http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=93DBAB:2B910B2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Cut to the poor IT worker. Suddenly, we're forced to stop scouring the Web for quality mail-order brides in order to manage a gaggle of users looking to move all their idiosyncrasies from one machine to another -- a Moorcockian epic to achieve a sane balance between law and chaos. In the old days, this would have been a backbreaking chore combining sneakernet with overtime, Advil, caffeine, divorce, and eventual heart-burst. But the new Microsoft hasn't left us entirely defenseless when it comes to migration projects -- provided that certain precautions are taken. In keeping with Microsoft's focus on the larger enterprises, big deployments actually have more options available to them than smaller installations, especially for SMS (Systems Management Server) users. Combine Active Directory with SMS, and you've already got a fairly automated engine for deploying new desktops. SMS can manage a standard XP desktop image, even customizing that image on an application level, while Active Directory can migrate individual or group resources and settings simply using the log-in prompt. For more detailed migration tasks, Microsoft has even more dedicated tools and processes such as the Business Desktop Deployment model. But these require access not only to special tools but also specialized -- and thus expensive -- personnel as well. Folks without these resources, however, have a wide range of third-party migration tools from which to choose. The best known is probably Symantec. Enterprise Ghost requires some prep time, but when running, it's saved my bacon plenty of times when deployment schedules became tight. The company also has a client migration tool, excitingly named Client Migration, which recently hit Version 3.0. Not only is this tool easier to use than Ghost, but it has better management tools, although you'll need to dedicate a machine to act as the Migration Server for most installations. Smaller businesses are the ones truly challenged. But even here, Microsoft has built enough intelligence into its OSes to make these tasks manageable if not entirely without expense. Small Business Server has a full implementation of Active Directory, so combining this with even a single-user copy of Ghost means fewer Advils. IT executives and consultants presiding over small and midsize businesses simply need to take a firmer stance when it comes to user management. Instead of suggesting network storage of data files, enforce it. Keep individual tinkering to a minimum, meaning no downloaded daisy themes, no rogue applications, and a crack down on individual peripherals such as the newest PDAs and photo printers. The more standard your desktops, the more centralized the data store, the easier it is to move to new hardware. Even if your version of Ghost is so limited that you're running around with an image on CD, that's still quicker than customizing five, 10, or 20 images for individuals with a slew of personalized and often unnecessary settings. If users begin to gripe, just point out the staff-hour savings to the boss, and you'll get all the suit-backing you need -- except for the suit machines themselves, of course, but that's a headache we all have. There are cheaper versions of desktop migration software available. Cellarstone's StepUp or Tranxition's Personality Tranxport Professional are two examples, but these are geared at single-user implementations, not departmental moves. Desktop management suites such as LANDesk have OS migration capabilities, but the more individualized each desktop is, the more time and server resources the migrations will take. And many midsize businesses won't have ponied up for something like LANDesk in any case. That's why keeping users on a standard desktop may be boring, but it sure saves headaches when the time comes to move to new CPU homes. It also saves time because the more you can automate a rollout, the larger that rollout can be. Oliver Rist is a senior contributing editor at InfoWorld. ======================================================================== TECHWORLD: THE NEW WEB SITE FOR UK IT PROFESSIONALS Techworld is IDG's Web site for the IT professional. It has been set up with one aim in mind; that of making the network and IT manager(1)s job easier. It is written by people with experience of running networks, people who are aware of the technical problems that are thrown up in the course of the working day. People like you in fact. 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