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FOG can back up disk images and do inventory and scheduled re-images and keep images for things like AV scan and whatnot.

We mostly just use it to wipe machines back to clean slates ourselves but it's supposed to have quite a rich feature set. It does also have some bugs though.

I set one up at my school that has re-imaged 1000+ student netbooks 7 at a time, the school district also has all of our images centrally located and available throughout the district for all models of laptops/desktops that we use and manages the images there. It uses iPXE/Partclone/TFTP and LAMP. The original .32 version has plugins that can do things like identify a machine based on its DMI info and pick a set of images based on that (Capone).

I've set them up on CentOS and Ubuntu. There are always quirks though, I suggest strong perusal of the wiki before deciding, and toy with it before putting in to production.

FOG can back up disk images and do inventory and scheduled re-images and keep images for things like AV scan and whatnot.

We mostly just use it to wipe machines back to clean slates ourselves but it's supposed to have quite a rich feature set. It does also have some bugs though.

I set one up at my school that has re-imaged 1000+ student netbooks 7 at a time, the school district also has all of our images centrally located and available throughout the district for all models of laptops/desktops that we use and manages the images there. It uses iPXE/Partclone/TFTP and LAMP. The original .32 version has plugins that can do things like identify a machine based on its DMI info and pick a set of images based on that (Capone).

I've set them up on CentOS and Ubuntu. There are always quirks though, I suggest strong perusal of the wiki before deciding, and toy with it before putting in to production.

FOG is a Linux-based, free and open source computer imaging solution for Windows XP, Vista and 7 that ties together a few open-source tools with a php-based web interface. FOG doesn't use any boot disks, or CDs; everything is done via TFTP and PXE. Also with fog many drivers are built into the kernel, so you don't really need to worry about drivers (unless there isn't a linux kernel driver for it). FOG also supports putting an image that came from a computer with a 80GB partition onto a machine with a 40GB hard drive as long as the data is less than 40GB.

HEX

Ghost was a decent product. I stopped using it years ago in favor of Clonezilla.

Seconded. Clonezilla is an excellent Ghost replacement, and I even started getting the windows-only admins I work with turned on to it!

If anyone is looking for an open source "corporate back-end Ghost", check out the FOG project. I've just begun deploying the infrastructure needed for it, but lets one backup and reimage a computer remotely using an awesome network boot method.

They both take a little bit to get used to, but it's no worse then getting used to or working around the problems and quirks of Ghost (Like restoring a C: drive image to a secondary HD, and having it retain the D: or E: letter, and thus windows refusing to boot)

alternativly, http://www.fogproject.org/ should also be able to handle most of what you asked or. may need to make a custom boot for the wipe process.

FOG is a PXE cloning solution. http://www.fogproject.org/ Install FOG and storage where you want backups, setup PXE IP on network, and input all MAC addresses you want backed up. Through web interface to clone all. When done backing everything up, put a .img file of DBAN on the FOG server. http://www.dban.org/ Configure it in the FOG PXE boot menu, and make it an option but NOT default. Add appropriate start up flags for the level of wiping you want. Restart all computers you want to wipe, and select wipe option after PXE boot menu comes up.

I suggest you set that option with a password, since it will be available on all computers, not just the one's with the MAC address since only the FOG boot authenticates to MAC, not DBAN.

A 'minor bug' that demands they rip that version off their server and that users don't use it. http://www.fogproject.org/?q=content/minor-bug-031

I would not recommend using such method for servers, but workstation deployment can use a prepared image through sysprep.

Thanks a linux-based open source project called Fog our team now can install and reinstall several types of workstations through a web interface. The project also includes an agent that can be useful to automate OS reinstalls.

Partition Magic is long dead I think, but GParted is a good alternative.

Now all I need is a replacement for Ghost/TrueImage. All the newer versions seem to have redesigned their interfaces to appeal to n00bs who probably shouldn't be imaging their drives anyway. Seriously, anyone who can understand the concept of drive imaging can cope with the old interface.

FOG (Free Opensource Ghost) is a great program check it out.

http://www.fogproject.org/

http://www.fogproject.org/

I hope they allocate some money for existing projects, personal favorites are LTSP and FOG Project; both of which are used in schools and my own personal computer lab for fun.

I'd hate to see the money dumped into new projects that cost way too much, and don't do half of what already exists out there.

Feel free to add your own, I can always use more bookmarks.

Jonah HEX

So when you need to reboot your POS Windows print spooler, you take down all the other services too? Visualise and separate out services - to a certain extent.

With a cluster of VM hosts you get hardware redundancy across all VMs. Running multiple VMs on one host is cheap and efficient, but it's too all-your-eggs-in-one-basket for me.

If your existing physical servers are buckling under the load, initially you can P2V your existing servers and run them as VMs on your hosts. That way you get a pain free hardware upgrade. Then plan for separation of services and rationalising the number of DB servers, etc. Of course you have to balance the cost of server an VM licences against the benefits of distributing servers (assuming Windows and VMWare here).

As usual, it's a trade off between cost, risk and functionality.

No need for a Windows Deployment server, we're using Fog with great results.
http://www.fogproject.org/