Image Engineering

You're probably already familiar with disk imaging tools such as Symantec Ghost or ImageX (which was introduced by Windows Vista). Using imaging tools effectively is a significant challenge, however, and this challenge is the reason that Microsoft developed MDT 2010. With MDT 2010, you do not have to engineer the entire imaging process; the framework provides most of the code for you already. All you need to do is customize it to suit your organization's requirements. Using MDT 2010 to build Windows 7 images involves the following steps:

• Create a build server The build server is the host for MDT 2010 and its distribution share.
• Configure a deployment share The deployment share contains the source files (Windows 7, applications, device drivers, and so on) from which you build operating system images.
• Create and customize task sequences After stocking the deployment share, you create task sequences. Task sequences associate source files from the deployment share with the steps necessary to install and configure them.
• Build initial operating system images With MDT 2010, building a custom Windows 7 image is as simple as installing the operating system from a deployment share by using the Windows Deployment Wizard. This is an LTI Installation process that requires minimal user interaction; it automatically captures a Windows 7 image and stores it back in the deployment share.

In preparation for the development process, you can begin building the lab during the Project Planning SMF, using the items in the following list:

• Windows 7 media You will need media and volume license keys for Windows 7.
• Destination computers You will need computers on which to create, install, and test Windows 7 images.
• A build computer for MDT 2010 You must have a computer on which to host MDT 2010 and the deployment share. The build computer should have a DVD-RW drive and should be networked with the destination computers. You can install MDT 2010 on a desktop or server computer.
• Windows Deployment Services The lab environment should contain a server running Windows Deployment Services. Using Windows Deployment Services to boot destination computers is much faster than burning DVDs and starting computers with them.
• Additional source files Early in the Project Planning SMF, the project team can begin assembling the source files required to stock the distribution share. Source files include device drivers and hardware-specific applications for each computer in the production environment. Additionally, the team should begin assembling any security updates and operating system packages that must be added to the distribution share.

Note The Project Planning SMF is the best time to install MDT 2010 in the lab environment and begin familiarizing yourself with it. The section titled "Installing the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit" later in this tutorial describes the requirements for installing MDT 2010 and how to install MDT 2010 in the lab environment.

Deployment

Deployment is an intense, time-consuming process during any high-volume deployment. MDT 2010 provides technical guidance and tools that help streamline the following processes:

• Choosing server placement
• Evaluating server and network capacity
• Installing the distribution shares and tools
• Deploying the client computers

During the Project Planning SMF, the project team should begin preparing the lab environment using the items in the following list:

• Production replica The project team needs a replica of the production environment to unit-test the combined efforts of all the other teams. Destination computers should be running the versions of Windows found in the production environment with user data loaded. These computers are used for the unit-test deployment, including user state migration.
• Network shares on a host computer Two types of network shares are required: one for the MDT 2010 deployment share and a second for the data server share. These shares could be all on the same physical server or on separate servers. Also, it's useful to store images of the production computers on the host computer to restore them quickly and easily after each test pass.
• Windows Deployment Services The lab environment should contain a server running Windows Deployment Services. Using Windows Deployment Services to boot destination computers is much faster than burning DVDs and starting computers with them. Team members can use the same Windows Deployment Services server for image engineering and deployment testing.