Can I copy images to multiple HDs in server or SAN

[rod]

Hi guys,

I’m a newbie looking at methods to copy images to multiple hard drives. Not used FOG at all.

I’m using sysprep and Ghost to create images. I then want to copy the image to multiple hard drives that will later be installed in refurbished PCs.

These hard drives may be in a FOG server or in a SAN box.

Can I use FOG to do what I need? If so, what is the starting point?

[Wayne Workman]

I think what you want to do is possible… but we need much more information.

Do you want each HDD to have a boot sector and OS ? Do you want each HDD to be blank? Are the HDDs the same size?

[rod]

Yes, each HDD needs to become the drive in the refurbished PC and so must boot to Windows Vista/7/8.1 (and soon 10).

Each HDD will have been checked for errors before attempting to copy the image onto it. Probably reformatted to one partition.

HDD sizes may be different.

[Wayne Workman]

Is it at all possible to leave the HDDs in the host machines before you pull the drives?

You could multicast a syspreped image to them all at once…

[rod]

For some jobs yes and I can see using FOG with PXE boot will work in those situations. However some jobs require mass hard drive wipes and checking or the hard drives may come from stock so it is easier to put the drives into a hotswap server/SAN and wipe the drives/check/repair and image the drives while still in the server. Doing it this way means we only need to setup one PC at a time rather than having 20-40 PCs all powered and connected at the same time. Our refurbishment scenario is a little different to the typical business install.

[Wayne Workman]

If you could find (or build) a full-size ATX box and give it like… 20 HDD bays (using hot swap HDD caddys), then this should be doable…

I should make something clear… FOG is designed to image individual PCs using Unicast and Multicast, over a network… in a network boot environment. Copying locally from one hdd to another isn’t supported (and I doubt it ever will be, Clonezilla is good for that…).

If you could get that full size ATX box going, and FOG is able to detect every drive properly, then you could probably finagle the partition file to shoot one image out to many HDDs.

It will be necessary to create a single sys-prepped image with every sort of driver on it that could possibly be needed. You’ll need to make an image of that - and you need it to be “Single Disk - Resizeable”.

[rod]

OK, ta. Probably will go FOG then for PXE boot installs, and investigate using a Linux shell script for copying images to local/SAN drives.

Question answered, just not sure how to mark it as such.