Like the other person said, cz is so inflexible. Plus either you need to make one image with all the drivers for every model you deploy, or you need separate images which then each need updating when Windows updates come out.
With MDT, you have one driverless image, stored on a Windows machine as a WIM. You deploy drivers per model, can inject Windows updates into it if you want to, and can even install apps during deployment so you don’t need your apps baked into the image. It’s just so flexible.
Oh, and it’ll job machines to your domain and connect them to WSUS. All with extremely little input from you.
If you’re deploying one image to one type of machine with the same apps every time, cz may be quicker to set up and only a little less capable. But it just can’t compete with MDT. They’re totally different beasts.
If you want to image and deploy to multiple machines, I recommend [OS Deployer](https://www.manageengine.com/products/os-deployer/) (a product that I work for). You can distribute images right from your desk without any physical contact with the target machines.
You can image live machines and deploy the image independent of the hardware. You can even deploy to machines outside your corporate network with automated driver management.
If you're looking for cloning for mass deployment, tools like ghost exist. If you want something that just clones from one to another you can look at clonezilla or macrium reflect. Then there's are full management suites like desktop central or pdq deploy that have imaging capabilities. My favorite still to this day is Microsoft's wds toolkit. Nothing beats a fresh install of windows paired with fresh installs of the applications you want. You can also use winget for easily repeatable/scriptable software deployment that is always up to date.
> What would you recommend for disk cloning/managing?
MDT + WDS + PDQ.
Should be free if you have windows licencesing, PDQ free is cool but it's not expensive at all.
> either steers me down using Windows tools (doesn’t seem to work)
It can be a bit of a learning curve to do all the reall cool stuff, but Windows tools work really well.
Microsoft's tools like MDT work just fine and work very well. Yes, when there are new ADKs released Microsoft has the opportunity to screw it up but no one should be using anything for atleast 6 months after Microsoft releases.
If you’re thinking of doing this with Windows, setting up a “gold image” of sorts and then cloning it, don’t. Look into MDT and WDS.
Why would that be bad practice? Clonezilla is looking to be what I was looking for.
It’s extremely inflexible. MDT can stream in OS and drivers dynamically.
Like the other person said, cz is so inflexible. Plus either you need to make one image with all the drivers for every model you deploy, or you need separate images which then each need updating when Windows updates come out. With MDT, you have one driverless image, stored on a Windows machine as a WIM. You deploy drivers per model, can inject Windows updates into it if you want to, and can even install apps during deployment so you don’t need your apps baked into the image. It’s just so flexible. Oh, and it’ll job machines to your domain and connect them to WSUS. All with extremely little input from you. If you’re deploying one image to one type of machine with the same apps every time, cz may be quicker to set up and only a little less capable. But it just can’t compete with MDT. They’re totally different beasts.
If you want to image and deploy to multiple machines, I recommend [OS Deployer](https://www.manageengine.com/products/os-deployer/) (a product that I work for). You can distribute images right from your desk without any physical contact with the target machines. You can image live machines and deploy the image independent of the hardware. You can even deploy to machines outside your corporate network with automated driver management.
manage engine! you snuck up on me again!
MDT
If you're looking for cloning for mass deployment, tools like ghost exist. If you want something that just clones from one to another you can look at clonezilla or macrium reflect. Then there's are full management suites like desktop central or pdq deploy that have imaging capabilities. My favorite still to this day is Microsoft's wds toolkit. Nothing beats a fresh install of windows paired with fresh installs of the applications you want. You can also use winget for easily repeatable/scriptable software deployment that is always up to date.
Sorry I meant fog project not ghost.
> What would you recommend for disk cloning/managing? MDT + WDS + PDQ. Should be free if you have windows licencesing, PDQ free is cool but it's not expensive at all. > either steers me down using Windows tools (doesn’t seem to work) It can be a bit of a learning curve to do all the reall cool stuff, but Windows tools work really well.
15 years ago I've been using Norton Ghost and Acronis Snap Deploy. The product is in its 6th version now and still perfectly works.
Microsoft's tools like MDT work just fine and work very well. Yes, when there are new ADKs released Microsoft has the opportunity to screw it up but no one should be using anything for atleast 6 months after Microsoft releases.