Optimization

The size of the WinPE boot file looks scary when multiple clients are downloading it in a PXE boot. I have found a way to reduce the size of the boot.wim file to 33% less in size than the boot file that Boot Disk Creator creates and of course it downloads 33% faster. The end result should have a 110 Meg size WinPE boot file.

In connection with Joel's article on Improving Load Performance in Real-Time Systems Manager, the following VBscript provides a shortcut to opening an RTSM page for a system.

One complaint I occasionally hear about Real-Time System Manager is the time it can take to load the initial RTSM console. This is usually caused by the full connection attempts on all supported protocols. This includes WMI, AMT, ASF, and SNMP. Often the user for the Real-Time tab is only interested in one or two of the supported technologies and doesn't need the others to load. The article discusses why this process can take time, and how to disable unused or technologies. We'll also discuss other ways to improve the general performance of the RTSM console.

The Linux preboot has been known to be fast at performing Bare Metal to OS installs under Deployment Solution for Dell Servers, but just when you thought it couldn't get any faster, it did. I can get these "cheeta" Bare Metal to OS jobs to execute in under 5 minutes without skipping any of the configuration steps. Use this step by step article to eliminate all reboots tasks in your deployment jobs saving time and network bandwidth and effectively making deployment up to twice to three times as fast. This job also greatly reduces PXE server strain allowing you to deploy more machines at once!

After using a product for awhile, you tend to learn a few tricks that save time. Unfortunately it may take you doing a certain action dozens of times before finding a better way. This article is meant to be a miscellaneous compilation of little tricks that I learned over time that save time and frustration when deploying machines with Deployment Solution for Dell Servers 3+.

It took a little while, but it as a lot of work, here goes; V1.6

New: Easy Layer Excludes.
New: Easy Global Excludes.
New: Easy File Extensions Exclude.
New: A Skipped Layer(s) list with Multi Exporting Layers.
New: A List With Layers who failed Multi Export.
New: Better Error Control of AAConsole.
Fix: Layer Export.
Fix: Made the AAConsole about 40% faster.
Fix: Ampersand, Quotes ("") and Apostrophes in a Layer name could case an incomplete Layer list.
Fix: Due to the dependency of Windows Scripting Host made a check if it is installed (Not Default in XP)
Fix: Canceling MultiExport would cause an Export anyway.

This contribution is a kind of tribute to Ericw and Shrek, who first published a U3 port(s) of SVSAdmin

Just unzip and doubleclick the SVSAdmin2.1.2084.exe file.
You need a U3 Stick to install this application, or else the installer won't work.

This is the latest iteration of what is becoming a favorite at ManageFusion -- the SVS best practices breakout session!

Since SVS 2.1 has shipped, more and more Altiris customers are rolling SVS into production. I had the opportunity this week to speak with several customers who shared their experiences with rollouts, typically in the 1,500 to 4,000 node range. Turns out the best practices we identified early on are holding true. And you guys really seem to be appreciating things like Global Excludes and the improvements in the Wise 7 updates that make it even easier to get it right.