Remote Imaging -- Will FOG Work?
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Hello,
I recently was given the task of setting up remote imaging for an organization that has locations in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida. We have about 70 locations spread out among these states.
The locations in these states are >50 miles apart, and we cannot have a storage node in each location (too costly).
My question is: will FOG imaging be possible? The only connection the stores have to each other is the internet (no direct connections). There is a DHCP server at each location (router), but nothing besides that except for the target machines (1 to 3 target machines per location).
I understand how to set PXE as the first boot priority, but I am unsure as to how the computers will connect to the FOG master in our corporate location. It is my understanding that PXE likes to work over a local network instead of the internet.
If FOG will work, what sort of setup would I need?
[B]We understand that it will be very slow over the internet, but we do not care because it is saving us from driving 50-1000 miles every time a computer goes down.[/B]
I loosely worked with FOG during an internship and understand how to use it over a LAN, but not so much over the internet in such a broad area.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
EDIT: To clarify, we have a corporate office where the FOG master will be, and ~70 remote locations which will have 1-3 target machines each. These locations cannot have a local storage node but do have DHCP servers. They are only connected to the corporate office over the internet (not on the same network, VPN, anything).
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I’m going to take a stab at this question. I’ve been using FOG for about 2 months now, it’s working great.
So, you don’t want a storage node at each location because of cost.
My solution to that is to just put a storage node at each location.It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. An old dual-core with a gigabit interface will get the job done just fine. You could even go with an old P4 with Hyper Threading. It’d be slower, but still.
Also,
You should probably point out to your superior how much fuel savings AND bandwidth savings you’d have by putting in a storage node at each location. You could even justify it by replacing 70 select machines with new ones, and re-appropriating the old ones as storage nodes.Imagine the slowness of transferring 10 - 40 GB over the internet? How long would that tie up the various location’s internet service for? A day at least? How much productivity time would be lost due to that? What if the connection hiccups? What if two machines (or more) go down at once? How much bandwidth are you going to use up at your central location?
Others may reply with other ideas, but I think this would be better IMHO.
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[quote=“Wayne Workman, post: 42363, member: 28155”]I’m going to take a stab at this question. I’ve been using FOG for about 2 months now, it’s working great.
So, you don’t want a storage node at each location because of cost.
My solution to that is to just put a storage node at each location.It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. An old dual-core with a gigabit interface will get the job done just fine. You could even go with an old P4 with Hyper Threading. It’d be slower, but still.
So, my suggestion, is to put in older equipment as storage nodes. Hopefully you already have some older equipment laying around.
Others may reply with other ideas, but I think this would be better IMHO.[/quote]
The only equipment we have laying around (mostly) are computers that we use for backup in bad situations. I will speak with my manager about purchasing smaller stations to use for this.
I guess my biggest misunderstanding is how will I get those computers to connect to my FOG master to get an image? How will everything be connected?
Here’s what I’m thinking:
Master connects to storage nodes
Workstations talk with storage nodes
Master sends reimage request to storage node
Storage node reimages workstationsSo, in essence, the storage node handles the PXE/TFTP portion on their end. The master and storage nodes just connect somehow to transfer their information, and I think that is where it gets muddy in my head.
Do the storage nodes handle the PXE/TFTP, or would that need pushed somewhere else? Also, the DHCP server at each location has no knowledge of the FOG master’s network…is that an issue?
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Possibly one of the most uncommon scenarios to use an imaging software like FOG over the internet but hey, up to you!
Do all the locations use private (e.g. 192.168.x.y or 10.x.y.z) or public IP adresses and do you have VPN tunnels set up between the sites?
Depending on what your answers are it would be just a piece of cake to use FOG within your organization OR you will have to go a very long way and first learn about a lot of others things before FOG will happen for you.
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[quote=“Uncle Frank, post: 42366, member: 28116”]Possibly one of the most uncommon scenarios to use an imaging software like FOG over the internet but hey, up to you!
Do all the locations use private (e.g. 192.168.x.y or 10.x.y.z) or public IP adresses and do you have VPN tunnels set up between the sites?
Depending on what your answers are it would be just a piece of cake to use FOG within your organization OR you will have to go a very long way and first learn about a lot of others things before FOG will happen for you.[/quote]
The locations all use private IP addresses via NAT through the router…VPN tunnels are not set up between the sites.
E: Additionally, are there any better methods of doing this BESIDES putting a storage node at every location? Doing it over the internet is the only way I [I]thought[/I] there was, but if you know of something better, please advise!!
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[quote=“Alex Elkins, post: 42365, member: 28621”]The only equipment we have laying around (mostly) are computers that we use for backup in bad situations. I will speak with my manager about purchasing smaller stations to use for this.
I guess my biggest misunderstanding is how will I get those computers to connect to my FOG master to get an image? How will everything be connected?
Here’s what I’m thinking:
Master connects to storage nodes
Workstations talk with storage nodes
Master sends reimage request to storage node
Storage node reimages workstationsSo, in essence, the storage node handles the PXE/TFTP portion on their end. The master and storage nodes just connect somehow to transfer their information, and I think that is where it gets muddy in my head.
Do the storage nodes handle the PXE/TFTP, or would that need pushed somewhere else? Also, the DHCP server at each location has no knowledge of the FOG master’s network…is that an issue?[/quote]
I updated my first post to point out some other issues.
Others would have to help you with the storage node questions, as I only use one FOG machine at one location currently.
But, I still think your best bet is putting in older machines at each location. -
And,
No matter what route you choose, I think you’re going to have to get some sort of VPN going (as [URL=‘http://fogproject.org/forum/members/uncle-frank.28116/’][SIZE=11px][COLOR=#969696]Uncle Frank[/COLOR][/SIZE][/URL] asked about) just for the systems to communicate properly.
Unless, all the machines you put in at the 70 locations are completely independent. This would mean having some sort of remote-desktop software running on them all the time, that works across the internet. TeamViewer wouldn’t be ideal as you need an access code from the target machine for each instance.
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[quote=“Wayne Workman, post: 42371, member: 28155”]I updated my first post to point out some other issues.
Others would have to help you with the storage node questions, as I only use one FOG machine at one location currently.
But, I still think your best bet is putting in older machines at each location.[/quote]Okay, I understand your suggestion. Wouldn’t moving the images from the master to the storage node still use up the same amount of bandwidth, but only one time (or however many times you push a new image to the storage node)?
E: Site-to-site VPN or what?
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[quote=“Alex Elkins, post: 42373, member: 28621”]Okay, I understand your suggestion. Wouldn’t moving the images from the master to the storage node still use up the same amount of bandwidth, but only one time (or however many times you push a new image to the storage node)?
E: Site-to-site VPN or what?[/quote]
I was figuring that since he must go to each site anyways to set up the storage nodes, might as well take a copy of the needed images with him on a flash drive, and copy them where they should be, and make the necessary changes for it to work.
Also, if a transfer from master to storage node is necessary, this can be scheduled during off-peak hours… like over the weekend, overnight on Sunday night… whatever works best. This still has tremendous benefit.
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there are ways you could make fog work for your situation, but it would take some work. I’ve done something along these lines as an experiment on a feature in development, but you honestly might want to look at different solutions unless you’re convinced fog is the way to go.
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[quote=“Junkhacker, post: 42375, member: 21583”]there are ways you could make fog work for your situation, but it would take some work. I’ve done something along these lines as an experiment on a feature in development, but you honestly might want to look at different solutions unless you’re convinced fog is the way to go.[/quote]
He hit on the “Cost” factor pretty hard…
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Don’t forget, what you’re talking about is completely capable (multiple nodes at separate locations, but managed by a central “server”) is 100% possible using location plugin. This is EXACTLY what it was designed for.
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yes
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[quote=“Wayne Workman, post: 42363, member: 28155”]I’m going to take a stab at this question. I’ve been using FOG for about 2 months now, it’s working great.
So, you don’t want a storage node at each location because of cost.
My solution to that is to just put a storage node at each location.It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. An old dual-core with a gigabit interface will get the job done just fine. You could even go with an old P4 with Hyper Threading. It’d be slower, but still.[/quote]
It is also possible to install fog on a [URL=‘http://www.raspberrypi.org/’]Raspberry Pi[/URL]. This could be a cheap solution for you. As of now we have only tested and checked that it has installed correctly on a Pi. But the investment is around $50 a Pi and could possibly be a solution for you. The Pi can sit right next to the router and plugin to the same power strip.
Of course we would be willing to help you at every turn.
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[quote=“Wolfbane8653, post: 42382, member: 3362”]It is also possible to install fog on a [URL=‘http://www.raspberrypi.org/’]Raspberry Pi[/URL]. This could be a cheap solution for you. As of now we have only tested and checked that it has installed correctly on a Pi. But the investment is around $50 a Pi and could possibly be a solution for you. The Pi can sit right next to the router and plugin to the same power strip.
Of course we would be willing to help you at every turn.[/quote]
Now that’s a solution!
I vote for this one.
Clearly, you should just buy 1 at first, and we can get that working and go from there.
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as much as i like playing with Raspberry Pi’s, i don’t think they’re a good solution to this problem. a refurbished desktop can be had for a little more then the cost of the Pi, and it will have gigabit Ethernet and can take a real hard drive.
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You could also look into the Banana Pi (has a GIG network on it)
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And there’s still the “connection” problem. Either you use dyn-DNS and port forwarding (all unencrypted) to connect the FOG servers located at different sites or you go the “long way” of setting up vpn gateways everywhere…
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