GHOST SOLUTION SUITE 2.5 WIN STD LIC EXPRESS BAND A

Symantec Ghost™ Solution Suite 2.5

Hardware Independent Imaging
Virtually every organization is looking for ways to reduce the number of the disk images it manages. Variations in PC hardware configurations are a key reason for disk image proliferation, which in turn results in high image maintenance costs and human error. This is why many organizations have aggressive initiatives around image consolidation and even the lofty goal of a single universal image. Removing driver dependencies from disk images is ESS to attaining this goal. It allows for a single disk image to be readily retargeted to a wide variety of hardware configurations, granted that the appropriate drivers can be injected into the image at the appropriate time in the deployment process. Symantec Ghost™ Solution Suite 2.5 provides tools to automate the detection and injection of drivers that match the target hardware configuration. This hardware independent imaging capability can be used both while imaging physical as well as virtual devices.

Logical Volume Support
In addition to imaging disks and disk partitions, Symantec Ghost™ Solution Suite 2.5 now offers support for capturing images based on Logical Volumes, both on Windows and Linux. Increasingly, organizations are taking advantage of the flexibility offered by logical volumes, with the expected result that volumes can now span across multiple disks or disk partitions, located either internal to the machine or in RAID arrays, SANs, etc. With GSS 2.5 users can create the image from such a volume regardless of its physical distribution.

Full Disk Encryption Support
Symantec Ghost™ Solution Suite 2.5 adds the ability to create and restore images on systems that use full disk encryption. Through an option to use the OS’s native file system stack, Ghost can now deploy an image on a system with full disk encryption enabled, thus removing the previously recommended two-step process where an image would first be laid in the clear followed by a step to turn on full disk encryption on the system. This not only greatly simplifies the process, but also increases security by eliminating the window in which data lies unencrypted on the system.

Workstation Hot Imaging
Symantec Ghost™ Solution Suite 2.5 adds the ability to create images for deployment from a “live” operating system. With this capability, a machine need not be restarted in order for Ghost to create an image from it. This provides a compelling mechanism for reducing the problem of stale images, where patches and updates render the image out of date within a few weeks of creation. Users can leave “reference machines” running and keeping them patched, etc. and then use the hot imaging feature to automatically refresh the image from those reference machines prior to deploying that image, or even better, to image direct from a reference machine to an end point, without any overt image creation step.

WinPE Pre-OS
Symantec Ghost™ Solution Suite 2.5 is the first version of Ghost to bundle in WinPE. The Ghost boot wizard has been enhanced to automatically create WinPE 2.1 images, providing for a better user experience.

Native Linux Tools
Symantec Ghost™ Solution Suite 2.5 introduces support for Linux pre-OS. In conjunction with the existing support for Linux production OSes in GSS, this now enables all-Linux Ghosting.
VMware (VMDK) Images
Symantec Ghost™ Solution Suite 2.5 adds support for VMware disk image format (VMDK). Ghost users will now be able to deploy directly to and form VMware disk image, effectively enabling V2P and P2V imaging. This will be a welcome feature for customers using virtualization to consolidate machines or implement remote client solutions, and to customers who first build and fine tune virtual machines and then cloned them throughout their physical environment.


Symantec Backup Exec™ System Recovery (BESR) (V2i) Images
Symantec Ghost™ Solution Suite 2.5 adds support for Symantec Backup Exec™ System Recovery (BESR) disk image format (V2i). Users will now be able to use Ghost to restore images created by BESR; this can result in extended deployment capabilities to a BESR implementation.

PowerQuest (PQi) Images
Symantec Ghost™ Solution Suite 2.5 adds support for PowerQuest disk image format (PQi). Users will be able to use Ghost to restore

System Requirements:

Client
*  Networked computer with Windows Vista/XP/Me/2000 Professional/95/98 or Windows NT 4.0 Workstation SP6
*  Single boot system
*  Can have more than one physical disk, but backup functionality supports the first physical disk only