Comprehensive PC management for OS deployment, software distribution, user-state migration, back-up and disaster recovery.

Contemplating making the switch to Windows Vista?  Then you will want to read our latest White Paper: Enterprise Deployment of Windows Vista for a clear, no-nonsense discussion of the task ahead and some valuable tips.

Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.0 is the industry’s most widely-used enterprise imaging and deployment solution. Its OS deployment, software distribution, and PC migration and retirement features allow enterprise IT staff to easily manage the entire PC lifecycle while reducing support costs.

With Ghost Solution Suite, administrators can quickly deploy or restore an OS image or application onto a PC and easily migrate user settings, data and profiles—all without having to physically touch the PC.

Managing today’s increasingly heterogeneous enterprise environments of connected and mobile PCs poses major challenges for IT managers. Primary among them is the need to control the costs of setting up new PCs, migrating user desktop settings, and deploying OS and application upgrades and updates.

The New Symantec Ghost Solution Suite enables IT Administrators to reduce the cost and time required to:

• Create standard system images for new workstations and servers.
• Deploy new Windows and Linux operating systems across an enterprise.
• Migrate users to new computers or Windows operating systems while preserving user settings, preferences, application settings and data.
• Deploy new or updated applications and distribute updates.
• Create detailed reports on hardware and software inventory.
• Retire computers by securely disposing of confidential data.

Three Leading Technologies in one Solution:

Symantec Ghost Solution Suite contains three leading-industry applications in one suite:

• Symantec Ghost
• Symantec DeployCenter
• Symantec Client Migration

With the combination of Symantec Ghost and DeployCenter technologies, Symantec now offers the only solution on the market with both file-based and sector-based imaging technologies. Symantec’s file-based imaging technology delivers optimum ease-of-use and flexibility for customizing and updating images, while its sector-based imaging provides the ultimate in accuracy by retaining Windows optimizations when creating system images. And with Symantec Client Migration, Administrators can utilize a user migration tool that provides unique features such as Web-based self-service and highly secure encrypted communication for mobile users, even over the Internet.

Centralized Management and Remote Capabilities

With Symantec Ghost Solution Suite, Administrators can deploy or restore an OS image or application onto a PC in minutes and then migrate individual user settings and profiles to customize the PC. Robust centralized management and remote capabilities boost IT productivity and help lower the total cost of ownership for networked PCs and workstations. From the Symantec Ghost console, IT managers can remotely clone any Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP workstation. And they can quickly deploy whole application packages or specific PC changes such as registry changes or desktop settings. Plus, Administrators can migrate user “personalities” (including PC settings and data) and also remotely clone multiple workstations, then quickly configure critical workstation data such as TCP/IP settings and machine, workgroup, and domain names—all from the Ghost central console.

Benefit From Several New PC Change-Management Capabilities

Several new features make the latest version of Symantec Ghost a more powerful, versatile, and compact PC change-management solution. User Migration allows Administrators to remotely transfer user files, directories, and desktop and network settings between PCs. Incremental Backup enables the remote backup of only the most recent user changes. And AutoInstall Integration consolidates AutoInstall functionality within the central console, making the customization of software packages and the deployment of updates easy, while reducing the overall Symantec Ghost footprint.

Support Today’s Latest Technologies

Symantec Ghost supports Intel® Wired for Management and Pre-Boot eXecution (PXE) services —the standard industry guidelines for building advanced management capabilities into PCs. The all-new version also supports Microsoft’s System Preparation utility and is the only PC management tool that is Windows™ 2000 certified, making it the tool of choice for migrating to the latest operating system from Microsoft®.

The PC Management Tool for IT Administrators

In summary, the Symantec Ghost Solution Suite includes features designed to give Administrators the most comprehensive set of PC management tools available for their enterprise environment:

• Ghost User Migration: Designed to migrate user data and settings from one PC to another, this feature allows an IT Administrator to completely “Move the User” by capturing user files, directories, and desktop settings and easily copy them to a new PC.
• Ghost Backup: Designed to take full backup images of client workstations and also take incremental snapshots (just files that have changed) of the client workstation between full backup images.

• Support for Intel’s Wired for Management Technology allows Administrators to introduce new systems to the network remotely.
• Ghost/AutoInstall Integration: The Ghost and AutoInstall client have been merged to allow software packaging and deployment from the Ghost Console.
• Faster: The Ghost executable has been redeveloped to be swifter. Users can now clone and refresh machines using the industry-leading disk cloning solution with even greater speed.

SYMANTEC GHOST SOLUTION SUITE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

The minimum hardware and software requirements to run Symantec Ghost Solution Suite vary according to the components you install. To determine whether you have all of the system requirements for Symantec Ghost Solution Suite, you can visit the Symantic Web site at www.symantec.com/ghost >>

CLIENT:

• 133 MHz Pentium®
• 32 MB RAM
• MB disk space
• Available disk space to equal twice the size of the largest file to be migrated on the C: drive when restoring a package.
• Windows 95b, 98 SE, 4.0 (NT 4.0), 2000 Professional (SP1), XP Professional, or XP Tablet PC Edition (Win Me and XP home not supported)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 (SP1), or higher

SERVER:

• Hardware:
  Pentium III or higher
  512 MB RAM
  10/100—MBPS NIC
  CD-ROM drive
  The amount of disk space required depends on the number of planned client migrations and average package size
• Windows 2000 Professional (SP3) /Server (SP3)/Advanced Server (SP3), XP Professional (SP1), Windows 2003 Server Standard and Enterprise Editions
• Databases—one of the following must be installed on the server computer:
  MSDE 2000 (limited to small user counts)
  SQL 7.0
  Microsoft SQL Server 2000
• IIS 5.0 or higher (for the Symantec Client Migration component)
• Network—Internet or intranet connection

CONSOLE:

• 400 MHz or higher Pentium compatible CPU
• 64 MB RAM
• VGA monitor, 800 x 600 screen resolution
• One of the following: Windows 2000 Professional / Server SP4, Windows XP Professional SP1a, Windows Server™ 2003 Standard/Enterprise:
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 SP1 or higher
• Network access
• Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.8 or higher (for the Symantec Client Migration Component)