Choosing Between ADS and RIS for Bare-Metal Deployments and Re-Deployments
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Deployment and re-deployment of Microsoft Windows® operating systems and applications to bare-metal computers is a key responsibility of IT operations. Microsoft offers two deployment solutions in Windows Server 2003: Automated Deployment Services (ADS) and Remote Installation Services (RIS).
The reliability, speed, and ease of deployment and re-deployment of computers can have a major impact on minimizing disruptions to the business, reducing IT operations costs, and improving customer satisfaction—particularly in large distributed computing environments and mission-critical situations. This article compares the core attributes of ADS and RIS so that customers can determine which solution best fits their deployment needs.
On This Page
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| Deployment Scenarios |
| Comparing ADS and RIS |
| Key Attributes of ADS and RIS |
Deployment Scenarios
Requirements for deployment solutions vary widely depending on the deployment scenario under consideration. Some scenarios favor a script-based or installation-based approach, while others are better served by image-based deployments. Other considerations for selecting a deployment solution include the following:
| • | Whether deployments are typically initiated by a user (or client) versus an administrator (or deployment controller). |
| • | Whether single or small numbers of simultaneous deployments typically are used versus bulk deployment to large numbers of computers. |
| • | Whether deployment standardization is needed versus customizability. |
Comparing ADS and RIS
To cover this range of requirements, Windows Server 2003 includes two deployment solutions:
| • | ADS is a new solution delivered with Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, and Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition, and is designed for automated, high-speed server deployment. |
| • | RIS was first delivered with Windows 2000 and has been enhanced in Windows Server 2003 to enable fully automated deployments. RIS now supports deployments to servers as well as to desktops. |
Of the two solutions, only RIS supports deployment of desktops—that is, computers targeted to run a Windows client operating system, such as Windows XP. ADS is designed and optimized for deployment of servers—that is, ADS is targeted to run a Windows server operating system, such as Windows Server 2003.
Microsoft recommends that customers review the capabilities of ADS and RIS to determine which solution best meets their specific needs. The following table provides information on the key capabilities and distinguishing attributes of the two solutions.
Key Attributes of ADS and RIS
| Characteristic | ADS | RIS | ||||||||||||
Typical usage | Large-scale, administrator-initiated, high-speed, task sequence-driven deployments of servers in data center or corporate computing environments | Sequential, user-initiated, Active Directory® configuration-based deployments in corporate computing environments | ||||||||||||
Core Attributes | ||||||||||||||
Deployment of operating systems | Deploys:
| Deploys:
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Availability | Included with:
| Included with:
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Deployment method | Image-based | Script-based or file-based | ||||||||||||
Deployment initiatiation | Deployment controller (push model) | Deployment target (pull model) | ||||||||||||
Support for multicast deployments | Yes | No | ||||||||||||
Number of concurrent deployments per server | Up to 128 (multicast). Deployment speed not affected by number of concurrent deployments per server. | Up to 75 (not multicast). Deployment speed (per deployment) reduced with increasing number of concurrent deployments per server. | ||||||||||||
Deployment of multiple volumes per computer | Yes, ability to simultaneously deploy to multiple volumes | No | ||||||||||||
Image-Related Attributes | ||||||||||||||
Deployment image file formats | NTFS, FAT 162, FAT 322 | NTFS | ||||||||||||
Image-editing tools | Yes | No | ||||||||||||
Automated image filtering based on hardware abstraction layer (HAL) type | No | Yes | ||||||||||||
Configuration-Related Attributes | ||||||||||||||
DHCP type | Any | Any | ||||||||||||
Active Directory requirement | No | Yes | ||||||||||||
Configuration storage source | Microsoft SQL Server™ database | Active Directory | ||||||||||||
Hardware configuration | DOS tools | Windows PE1 tools | ||||||||||||
Administration-Related Attributes | ||||||||||||||
Programmatic extensibility | Yes | No |
1 Windows PE is not included with RIS. It is available to Enterprise Agreement, Select License, and Software Assurance customers only.
2 Editing of FAT 16 and FAT 32 images is not supported.