If the problem is the user hosing up the system or the potential for viruses, then you need a product like Centurion Guard DriveShield or Faronic's http://www.faronics.com/ Deep Freeze.
Both basically allow full access to the system but simply delete all changes after a restart.
Most schools, colleges, and public libraries use a product like DriveShield or Deep Freeze to keep their computers running.
Another possible option is WinXP with the Microsoft Shared User Computing Toolkit. A little harder to setup but free.
Actually, your Windows & Linux dual boot box probably doesn't use the GUID Partition Table or the "GPT", something that is quite different on the new Intel iMacs.
What are you using to deploy the image? The same external boot drive?
So after you take the image, you then pass the external HD around to the other 24 Macs (25 in a lab in our case) and boot each one and push the image back to them?
Is there a way to do it with less manual labor, and without Mac OS X Server?
Since Netboot has difficulty working accross vlan segments, is there a way to make Mac OS X client work as a Netboot server? Say, have our instructor station in the room be the Netboot server?
>Basically, from the sound of it, you don't know what you are doing, which for a large scale deployment in a production area, can only end in disaster.
LOL!
Let me clarify that I can image a lab full of Macs with ONLY Mac OS X installed just fine, no problems.
-AND-
I can image a lab full, or an entire campus, of Dell PCs with XP just fine as well - in fact, it's even easier.
What we're running into a problem with is imaging DUAL-BOOT machines with Bootcamp. Apparently there are some round about ways to do it that are labor intensive - my reason for using Ask Slashdot was to see if some obscure method out there exists that someone has had success with. My question didn't have anything to do whether I know what I'm doing. I'm just one member of a 40 person, 12 campus team who has to deal with this issue and we've had many discussions on it. Many of us are extremely smart and talented.
Judging by some of the initial responses to this question - it's obvious most educational institutions haven't run into this issue, or are just using the long, drawn out labor intensive way. Or are avoiding it altogether and using Parallels, which has its own issues (especially when used in an Active Directory environment), not to mention the performance hit.
I want something on the Mac to work as elegant as Symantec Ghost or Acronis Disk Image.
This exact same question has come up in our discussions about Parallels vs Bootcamp. And how do you add a Parallels Virtual Machine to an Active Directory Domain under a multi-user Mac which is also attached to the domain? More questions, LOL!
One of the biggest issues we're having trouble with (again, we are new to this) is getting ASR or Netrestore to work with an Intel Mac that is partitioned with Bootcamp correctly. We're also adding the machines to an Active Directory Domain and we've had trouble with duplicate names on both the Windows partition and the Mac partition, requiring lots of manual labor to resolve in a classroom of 25 machines.
Formerly with Symantec Ghost on Dell's with XP, we would use Ghostwalker to change the SID (if needed) and told the Ghost Client (installed directly on the machines) to keep the same machine names and domain settings, requiring little if, if any manual labor.
Well, indeed part of the reason we've selected Bootcamp is because of the cost of Parallels and the performance advantage of Bootcamp. Our initial tests show that we'd need about 2GB of RAM in our iMacs just to make Parallels happy enough to run half-ass. Several of our classes use high performance Windows apps like AutoCAD, 3D Studio Max, etc that require graphic card acceleration as well. They work horribly under Parallels.
We use DriveShield to secure around 5000 student PCs with WinXP at a community college. It works like a champ and doesn't seem to interfere with any known applications.
http://www.centuriontech.com/products/driveshield/
Users can manipulate the desktop, install software, change settings, and download potentially harmful files from the Internet! A simple reboot of the computer restores it back to the administrator's pre-defined pristine configuration. DriveShield(TM) and MacShield(TM) simply wipe the session changes free... leaving the computer like new.
Additionally, DriveShield(TM) and MacShield(TM)protect the computer from viruses prior to discovery and remedy. When DriveShield disposes of the changes made to the computer, potentially harmful files such as worms, trojans, viruses and spyware are wiped free from the machine, never getting the opportunity to reach the hard drive.
To everyone who says GoDaddy was not blaming Apple - listen up, your observations were simply wrong.
GoDaddy did not post that particular message on their website and blame a vendor (Cisco) until the evening AFTER this Slashdot story got posted (by me, I'm ZackMac). No Joke. This issue has been occuring since on or around November 25th, 2005. Took them long enough to even admit the problem.
For over two weeks GoDaddy has been doing NOTHING BUT BLAMING APPLE. If you read that Apple forum linked in the article you'll see that everytime anyone asked GoDaddy about resolving the problem, these are the type of response(s) given:
Response from JASON C
12/07/2005 10:26 AM
Hello Zack,
Thank you for your email. There has been no change with the way we do forwarding. The problem with Safari is related to how it (and Opera) handles 302 redirects. Your sites are currently forwarding correctly. You can verify this with https://proxysystems.net/ and https://www.megaproxy.com/freesurf. I apologize for your frustration, but as the problem is not on our end there is no further troubleshooting possible.
Please let us know if we can help you in any other way.
Learn more about our Shared, Virtual-Dedicated, and Dedicated hosting: Click here
Sincerely,
Jason C.
GoDaddy.com
Customer Service Representative
Another one:
Response from AMBER B.
12/07/2005 09:05 AM
Dear Zack Brock,
Thank you for your reply. There are several issues that our beyond our control. One of which involves Safari. If that is not the problem you are experiencing, it must be an issue on the internet. The domain is functioning properly. We have noticed lately that some customers cannot view their domains though they function for us internally, on an external connection and via a proxy server. It seems that some ISPs are blocking the response back from our servers causing the forwarding to malfunction. Unfortunately, this is beyond our control. While we will work with these ISPs as we determine where the problem lies, we do not have control over when the resolution is achieved.
Please let us know if we can help you in any other way.
Learn more about our Shared, Virtual-Dedicated, and Dedicated hosting: Click here
Sincerely,
Amber B.
GoDaddy.com
Customer Service Representative
And another one...
Response from CHRISTOPHER B.
12/07/2005 08:02 AM
Dear Zack Brock,
Thank you for contacting customer support. Go Daddy has not made any changes in the way forwarding and masking sites are handled. The error you are referring to is a known issue of Safari, that you will need to contact Apple support to further resolve.
Please let us know if we can help you in any other way.
Learn more about our Shared, Virtual-Dedicated, and Dedicated hosting: Click here
Sincerely,
Christopher B.
GoDaddy.com
Customer Service Representative
And another one...
Response from JAMES P.
12/04/2005 08:20 AM
Dear Sir/Ma'am,
Thank you for contacting customer support. We have not changed in anyway our forwarding system. The forwarding issue with Safari is a known issue at this time. Unfortunately, this problem does not originate at GoDaddy but is most likely an issue with Safari. For more information regarding this, please contact Apple support. We apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing.
Please let us know if we can help you in any other way.
Learn more about our Shared, Virtual-Dedicated, and Dedicated hosting: Click here
Sincerely,
James G.
GoDaddy.com
Customer Service Representative
Listen, your observation is simply wrong. This issue has been occuring since on or around November 25th, 2005.
GoDaddy did not post that particular message that blames a vendor until the evening AFTER this Slashdot story got posted (by me, I'm ZackMac).
For over two weeks GoDaddy has been doing NOTHING BUT BLAMING APPLE. Read that stupid Apple forum that I linked in the article. Everytime anyone asked GoDaddy about resolving the problem, this is the type of response they would give:
Response from JASON C
12/07/2005 10:26 AM
Hello Zack,
Thank you for your email. There has been no change with the way we do forwarding. The problem with Safari is related to how it (and Opera) handles 302 redirects. Your sites are currently forwarding correctly. You can verify this with https://proxysystems.net/ and https://www.megaproxy.com/freesurf. I apologize for your frustration, but as the problem is not on our end there is no further troubleshooting possible.
Please let us know if we can help you in any other way.
Learn more about our Shared, Virtual-Dedicated, and Dedicated hosting: Click here
Sincerely,
Jason C.
GoDaddy.com
Customer Service Representative
Another one:
Response from AMBER B.
12/07/2005 09:05 AM
Dear Zack Brock,
Thank you for your reply. There are several issues that our beyond our control. One of which involves Safari. If that is not the problem you are experiencing, it must be an issue on the internet. The domain is functioning properly. We have noticed lately that some customers cannot view their domains though they function for us internally, on an external connection and via a proxy server. It seems that some ISPs are blocking the response back from our servers causing the forwarding to malfunction. Unfortunately, this is beyond our control. While we will work with these ISPs as we determine where the problem lies, we do not have control over when the resolution is achieved.
Please let us know if we can help you in any other way.
Learn more about our Shared, Virtual-Dedicated, and Dedicated hosting: Click here
Sincerely,
Amber B.
GoDaddy.com
Customer Service Representative
And another one...
Response from CHRISTOPHER B.
12/07/2005 08:02 AM
Dear Zack Brock,
Thank you for contacting customer support. Go Daddy has not made any changes in the way forwarding and masking sites are handled. The error you are referring to is a known issue of Safari, that you will need to contact Apple support to further resolve.
Please let us know if we can help you in any other way.
Learn more about our Shared, Virtual-Dedicated, and Dedicated hosting: Click here
Sincerely,
Christopher B.
GoDaddy.com
Customer Service Representative
And another one...
Response from JAMES P.
12/04/2005 08:20 AM
Dear Sir/Ma'am,
Thank you for contacting customer support. We have not changed in anyway our forwarding system. The forwarding issue with Safari is a known issue at this time. Unfortunately, this problem does not originate at GoDaddy but is most likely an issue with Safari. For more information regarding this, please contact Apple support. We apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing.
Please let us know if we can help you in any other way.
Learn more about our Shared, Virtual-Dedicated, and Dedicated hosting: Click here
Sincerely,
James G.
GoDaddy.com
Customer Service Representative
Slashdot Mirror
If the problem is the user hosing up the system or the potential for viruses, then you need a product like Centurion Guard DriveShield or Faronic's http://www.faronics.com/ Deep Freeze.
Both basically allow full access to the system but simply delete all changes after a restart.
Most schools, colleges, and public libraries use a product like DriveShield or Deep Freeze to keep their computers running.
Another possible option is WinXP with the Microsoft Shared User Computing Toolkit. A little harder to setup but free.
We need more groups officially banding together like this - the RIAA's bully tactic days are numbered!
Same here, I've never been able to get a fax to work on our VOIP lines here at work, and this is with a Cisco VOIP network, internal.
Actually, your Windows & Linux dual boot box probably doesn't use the GUID Partition Table or the "GPT", something that is quite different on the new Intel iMacs.
So after you take the image, you then pass the external HD around to the other 24 Macs (25 in a lab in our case) and boot each one and push the image back to them?
Is there a way to do it with less manual labor, and without Mac OS X Server?
Since Netboot has difficulty working accross vlan segments, is there a way to make Mac OS X client work as a Netboot server? Say, have our instructor station in the room be the Netboot server?
Will this work with Bootcamp partitions?
I'll be giving this a try, thanks jeffasselin!
Also, this doesn't resolve the DUAL BOOT issue we're running into with Bootcamp.
+1,000,000 - THANK YOU! This complexity you speak of is exactly what encouraged me to Ask Slashdot.
Is there not a bit for byte clone tool for Mac OS X that works with the Intel Mac GUID partition map?
It would be nice if there was a tool as easy and elegant as Ghost or TrueImage for the Mac that worked regardless of how it was partitioned.
>Basically, from the sound of it, you don't know what you are doing, which for a large scale deployment in a production area, can only end in disaster.
LOL!
Let me clarify that I can image a lab full of Macs with ONLY Mac OS X installed just fine, no problems.
-AND-
I can image a lab full, or an entire campus, of Dell PCs with XP just fine as well - in fact, it's even easier.
What we're running into a problem with is imaging DUAL-BOOT machines with Bootcamp. Apparently there are some round about ways to do it that are labor intensive - my reason for using Ask Slashdot was to see if some obscure method out there exists that someone has had success with. My question didn't have anything to do whether I know what I'm doing. I'm just one member of a 40 person, 12 campus team who has to deal with this issue and we've had many discussions on it. Many of us are extremely smart and talented.
Judging by some of the initial responses to this question - it's obvious most educational institutions haven't run into this issue, or are just using the long, drawn out labor intensive way. Or are avoiding it altogether and using Parallels, which has its own issues (especially when used in an Active Directory environment), not to mention the performance hit.
I want something on the Mac to work as elegant as Symantec Ghost or Acronis Disk Image.
This exact same question has come up in our discussions about Parallels vs Bootcamp. And how do you add a Parallels Virtual Machine to an Active Directory Domain under a multi-user Mac which is also attached to the domain? More questions, LOL!
If you make the Bootcamp partition NTFS, Mac OS X is unable to write to it - only has read access to NTFS partitions.
Target disk mode is useless in a lab of 25-35 Intel Macs that need to be reimaged in under an hour.
One of the biggest issues we're having trouble with (again, we are new to this) is getting ASR or Netrestore to work with an Intel Mac that is partitioned with Bootcamp correctly. We're also adding the machines to an Active Directory Domain and we've had trouble with duplicate names on both the Windows partition and the Mac partition, requiring lots of manual labor to resolve in a classroom of 25 machines. Formerly with Symantec Ghost on Dell's with XP, we would use Ghostwalker to change the SID (if needed) and told the Ghost Client (installed directly on the machines) to keep the same machine names and domain settings, requiring little if, if any manual labor.
Well, indeed part of the reason we've selected Bootcamp is because of the cost of Parallels and the performance advantage of Bootcamp. Our initial tests show that we'd need about 2GB of RAM in our iMacs just to make Parallels happy enough to run half-ass. Several of our classes use high performance Windows apps like AutoCAD, 3D Studio Max, etc that require graphic card acceleration as well. They work horribly under Parallels.
We use DriveShield to secure around 5000 student PCs with WinXP at a community college. It works like a champ and doesn't seem to interfere with any known applications. http://www.centuriontech.com/products/driveshield/
Users can manipulate the desktop, install software, change settings, and download potentially harmful files from the Internet! A simple reboot of the computer restores it back to the administrator's pre-defined pristine configuration. DriveShield(TM) and MacShield(TM) simply wipe the session changes free... leaving the computer like new.
Additionally, DriveShield(TM) and MacShield(TM)protect the computer from viruses prior to discovery and remedy. When DriveShield disposes of the changes made to the computer, potentially harmful files such as worms, trojans, viruses and spyware are wiped free from the machine, never getting the opportunity to reach the hard drive.
I'm pretty sure it is still up for debate. I say leave Pluto alone dangit!
To everyone who says GoDaddy was not blaming Apple - listen up, your observations were simply wrong.
GoDaddy did not post that particular message on their website and blame a vendor (Cisco) until the evening AFTER this Slashdot story got posted (by me, I'm ZackMac). No Joke. This issue has been occuring since on or around November 25th, 2005. Took them long enough to even admit the problem.
For over two weeks GoDaddy has been doing NOTHING BUT BLAMING APPLE. If you read that Apple forum linked in the article you'll see that everytime anyone asked GoDaddy about resolving the problem, these are the type of response(s) given:
Another one:
And another one...
And another one...
Listen, your observation is simply wrong. This issue has been occuring since on or around November 25th, 2005.
GoDaddy did not post that particular message that blames a vendor until the evening AFTER this Slashdot story got posted (by me, I'm ZackMac).
For over two weeks GoDaddy has been doing NOTHING BUT BLAMING APPLE. Read that stupid Apple forum that I linked in the article. Everytime anyone asked GoDaddy about resolving the problem, this is the type of response they would give:
Another one:
And another one...
And another one...
And another one...
This statement begs the question: "What is a shio and why is it sinking?"
EU = European Union. That means the contest is open to those in Europe... the place you believe to be the source of the best extensions.
I wonder if Google will compete with this when they release their supercomputer grid/cluster to the world.
LOL... looks like human female genitalia, complete with clit! I wonder if that was intentional?