As from the last post it is very much clear that RIS is much better and advantageous than standard interactive installation.Now i am going to tell you about the advantages of RIS over standard Installation.These advantages are as following:
1.Fewer errors during installation:Because RIS installation uses either preconfigured disk images or answer files to install and configure the operating system, there is minimal user interaction during the setup process. This reduces the number of errors that are introduced during setup.
2.Greater consistency:By using the same disk image or answer file to install and configure the operating system, you can ensure that all of the computers in your organization are set up exactly the same way.
3.Shorter installation time:RIS installation is faster than interactive installation because the operating system and applications are preinstalled and preconfigured on the disk image and require only minimal configuration after the disk image is copied to a destination computer. In addition, you can speed up the installation process by using the fully automated installation features of RIS. Instead of prompting end users or administrators for configuration information, the Setup program reads configuration settings from an answer file.
4.Lower support costs:By minimizing errors during the setup process, increasing the consistency of the computers in your organization, and reducing the amount of time an administrator needs to spend setting up a computer, you can reduce the overall support costs in your organization.
RIS is more complex and requires more upfront configuration and planning than other automated installation technologies. This is because RIS relies on several operating system services and protocols, as well as specialized hardware that supports the PXE specification. However, RIS installation is an efficient deployment technology if you have a high-speed network and you need to install clean operating systems and preconfigured applications onto a large number of computers with minimal end user or administrator interaction.
5.High speed network connectivity:The computers on which you are installing an operating system must all be connected to a reliable, high speed network. Wide area networks (WANs) that are connected with analog modems or Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) do not have sufficient bandwidth to support RIS installation.
6.PXE-enabled hardware:To take full advantage of RIS, each of the computers on which you are installing an operating system must have a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Mini-PCI, or CardBus type of network adapter that supports the PXE specification. PXE-enabled network adapters allow client computers to be remotely booted. In addition, the basic input/output system (BIOS) for each computer must be capable of using the network adapter as a boot device (also known as remote-boot capability). A ROM BIOS that is at least version .99n satisfies this requirement. Also, most computers that conform to the Net PC or PC98 specifications have a PXE remote boot–enabled network adapter and remote boot–enabled BIOS.
The published PXE specification defines the remote boot process and also establishes the PXE compliance standards for hardware manufacturers and other vendors. RIS uses PXE environment extensions to Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), an industry-supported technology, to allow workstations to do the following:
• Boot remotely using their network adapters to access boot code from a network location.
• Install an operating system from a remote source to a client’s local hard disk.
The PXE environment is built upon Internet protocols and services that are widely used in the computer industry. This includes TCP/IP, DHCP, and TFTP. The PXE extensions to the DHCP protocol enable information to be sent to network-bootable systems and also allow these systems to locate remote installation services.
Although RIS is a fast, efficient automated installation technology, it has the following limitations:
1.Clean installation only:You can only use RIS to install a clean version of an operating system, with or without software applications. You cannot use RIS to upgrade an operating system or software configuration.
2.Limited configuration of server components:You might not be able to include all the server components that you want to provide with RIS installation. For example, some server components require that you install and configure them only after the RIS-based installation is complete. This can include components such as Certificate Services, the Cluster service, or software that is dependent on Active Directory.
3.No support for installing domain controllers:You cannot install a preconfigured domain controller using a RIS image. However, you can use RIS to install a stand-alone server and then configure the server as a domain controller by running the Active Directory Installation Wizard.
4.No support for configuring encryption and security settings:You cannot use RIS to deploy files that are encrypted with a system such as the Encrypting File System (EFS). Also, you cannot use RIS to deploy systems with preconfigured user-level security settings such as file and folder permissions. To configure these settings, you can run a script after completing your RIS-based installation.
5.No support for wireless networks:You cannot use RIS to deploy images over a wireless network. Wireless networks do not support remote-booting computers that use PXE technology.
6.Limited support for multihomed computers:Multihomed RIS servers are supported if the network adapters use multiple separate subnets or if all network adapters use the same subnet. In both cases, the RIS server must also be the DHCP server. The DHCP server must have active scopes for each subnet serviced and must be authorized for each IP address on the network adapters being serviced.
Now these are the advantages and disadvantages of RIS.Hope you enjoy it.
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