Windows Server 2008 R2 WDS is a server role that is
designed to assist organizations that utilize Active Directory Domain
Services with the deployment of Windows systems. The WDS system
typically is set up to provide the storage and image retrieval services
necessary for image deployment, the client components such as the PXE
boot images, and the management
components used to configure WDS settings, including adding images to
the WDS server and creating multicast transmissions.
As previously stated, Windows
Server 2008 R2 WDS includes the best features of all of its predecessors
released with Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, and Windows
Server 2008. Some of the features include, but are not limited to, the
following:
Support for Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems images.
Support for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional images.
The ability to deploy images using multicast communication.
The
ability to use boot and installation images included with the Windows
Server 2008, Windows Vista SP1, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2
media using the .wim extension.
These can be copied directly from the respective installation media
right into the WDS server to provide base images for these operating
systems within minutes, without any customization.
Support for both 32- and 64-bit operating system deployment.
Before an
organization can consider deploying Windows 2008 R2 WDS, Active
Directory Domain Services (AD DS) must be deployed. Also, due to the
nature of the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE), Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and domain name system (DNS) services are
also required. Of course, for WDS to function properly, the desktop or
server hardware must also be compatible and must support PXE boot and
have at least 512MB of RAM, as this is the minimum RAM requirement to
install Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, and Windows Vista or Windows
Server 2008 using the Windows PE environment. Although the WDS server
can be configured to use IPv6, all client and WDS server communication
will use IPv4.
WDS Image Types
Windows Server 2008
R2 WDS includes several different image types. WDS administrators need
to understand each of these image types to understand the documentation
and how WDS works and also to be able to communicate the inner workings
of WDS to management and other administrators or clients as required.
WDS image types include boot images, installation images, discover
images, and capture images.
Boot Images
A boot image contains the
Windows Deployment Services client and the Windows Preinstallation
Environment (Windows PE), which is basically a mini operating system
used to connect the system to the WDS server and provide the means to
select and install a WDS installation image. The boot image included in
the Windows Server 2008 R2 installation media, as an example, is
appropriately named boot.wim and can be
used to boot systems that will install Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows
Vista SP1 x64, Windows 7 x64, or Windows Server 2008 x64 images. The
Windows Server 2008 R2 boot image can also be used
to install images using multicast transmissions. If x86 images will be
deployed, it is a best practice to boot those systems using the
compatible x86 Windows 7 or Windows Vista SP1 boot image. This will help
simplify issues with driver provisioning and manual driver injection as
necessary. Also, even if a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 custom
install image will be deployed, the boot image from Windows Automated
Installation Kit, or Windows Vista SP1 or greater will be required as
well as the appropriate storage, system bus, and networking drivers for
that boot image. To be very specific, if a hardware platform that will
be used for a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 system does not contain
storage, network, and system bus hardware that has a compatible driver
that matches the boot image, that hardware might not be a candidate for
WDS deployment.
Installation Images
The installation images are
the actual Windows installation media, packaged into a single WIM file.
Depending on the actual media used to provide the WIM files, many
different installation images might be included. For example,
organizations that receive volume license media from Microsoft might
have received a Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 DVD that contains the
full installation and the Server Core images for Standard Edition,
Enterprise Edition, and Datacenter Edition. On a WDS server, normally
only a single boot image is required per platform, x86 or x64, but it
can contain many different installation images.
Discover Images
A discover image is
created from a boot image and is used to boot a system and load the
Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) and locate and connect
to a WDS server. A discover image is commonly used when the network does
not support PXE boot or the system does not support it. Discover images
can be exported to ISO files and then burned or stored on removable
media, such as CDs, DVDs, or USB memory sticks, for portability. In some
cases when hardware is not booting and connecting properly to a WDS
server using a boot image, a Discover image can be tested as an
alternative for both deploying installation images and capturing a
system to an image.
Capture Images
A capture image is also
created from a boot image, but instead of running setup like an
installation image, the capture image runs the WDS capture utility. The
WDS capture utility is used to connect to a system that has been
prepared for imaging or cloning, using the appropriate system
preparation tools, to the WDS system to create a new installation image
that can be deployed later to WDS clients. Before a capture image is
used, a system with an operating system is customized by adding
applications, custom configurations, and other system changes that are
required by the particular organization. When the system
is ready for imaging, it is prepared using Sysprep, a Microsoft
deployment tool used to clear the machine’s SID and operating system
configurations that are specific to the system that will be imaged.
