Chapter 7: Automation Boot Methods; Which Automation Boot Method Should I Use; Pxe - Symantec ALTIRIS DEPLOYMENT SOLUTION 6.9 SP4 - V1.0 Manual

Chapter 7
Automation Boot Methods

Which Automation Boot Method Should I Use?

PXE

Deployment Solution
Deployment Solution supports a broad range of methods to boot computers into the
automation pre-boot environment: PXE, automation partitions, or boot media (CD/DVD,
USB device, or floppy).
This section provides an overview of the available boot methods to help you select the
method that works best for your environment, and contains the following:
PXE (page 41)
Automation Partitions
Boot Media (DVD/CD, USB Device, Floppy)
Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE) is an industry standard developed to boot
computers using a network card. PXE can boot computers regardless of the disk
configuration or operating system installed, and doesn't require any files or
configuration settings on a client. After PXE boot is turned on in the BIOS, a computer
can communicate with your DS PXE server to receive automation jobs.
PXE provides a number of advantages, especially when you are using the initial
deployment features of DS, which enables you to remotely deploy an image to a
computer which has no software installed.
Example: the receiving department of your company could have PXE enabled on their
subnet. When a new computer arrives, a technician could quickly unpack and plug the
computer into the network, and possibly enable PXE boot if it was not enabled by the
manufacturer.
When this unknown computer contacts the Deployment Server, it is assigned an initial
deployment job, which could image the computer with the corporate standard image,
install additional packages, and power off the computer. The computer is now ready for
delivery with minimal effort.
PXE also provides an advantage if you need to use multiple automation operating
systems in your environment. Since the image containing the automation operating
system is downloaded when a task is executed, different operating system
environments can easily be assigned to different tasks.
At the same time however, this can be a disadvantage if you are using an operating
system with a large footprint, such as WinPE, since the entire image must be
downloaded each time you run an automation task. If you often run automation jobs,
especially on several computers simultaneously, embedding the automation operating
system on the disk is faster and significantly reduces network traffic.
It is also possible to use PXE for initial deployment and install an automation partition as
part of the deployment. In this case, you could use the initial deployment features of
PXE for arriving computers and install an automation partition in case you need access
to automation at a later time.
(page 42)
(page 42)
41