Windows Server 2008 WDS Setup Complete Raiders

In the past, for a single or a few computers, installing and backing up the operating system can be done easily with tools such as the traditional Ghost. However, in today's turbulent tide of informationization, it is normal for a company to have hundreds or even thousands of PCs or servers. In the face of so many machines, it is necessary to deploy operating systems in a short period of time if Ghost is used again. The tool, obviously, has been unable to do so. It is a routine task after each machine has been cloned--setting the IP, machine name, joining the domain, installing the printer, etc. is unimaginable.

Fortunately, today we have the WDS tool, all of which will become as simple and time-saving as a stand-alone Ghost. With WDS, we can easily deploy operating systems in bulk for clients, manage images and unattended installation scripts, or provide installation and unattended installation options.

WDS, the abbreviation of Windows Deployment Services, Chinese means Windows Deployment Services, which exists as a built-in component in Windows Server 2008.

WDS consists of three components:

1, server components. A PXE server and a TFTP server for the network boot client to load and install the operating system. It also includes a shared folder and image repository that contains the boot image, installation image, and files needed for network boot. Windows Server 2008 WDS not only provides PXE support, but also optimizes protocols such as TFTP for transferring boot images, providing faster PXE boot speeds.

2, client components. WDS provides us with a class-like MMC unified interface for centralized management of operating systems and boot images. Here you can easily set up WDS, add/remove operating systems and boot images. It can also be used to capture an installed computer operating system.

3, management components. Includes WDS Management Console and command line tools that can be used to manage servers, operating system images and client computer accounts. With WDS multicast deployment, the operating system can be quickly deployed to multiple computers at the same time. This is an absolutely useful feature.

It is worth noting that the file-based WIM format used in Windows Server 2008 WDS is different from the tools we usually use, such as Ghost. Tools such as Ghost are disk-based. Because it is file-based, the WIM format image can be restored without destroying the original disk file system, and takes up very little space. (Figure 1)

WDS Workflow

If you want to do something good, you must first sharpen it. In order to use WDS for our better service, we must first master its deployment and management. Let's start with its installation.
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