clone one single HD to multiple HDDs

[leeroy]

i have one built machine which i need to make 40 odd of.

the software on these machines are 44GB in size, and i have about 40 seagate 120GB hard drives to clone. can someone guide me with nortons ghost please

i was cloning one by one, but that took ages, even with nortons i couldnt even clone from one hd to two hard drives on the same IDE. it takes about half an hour per HD -_-

i did network cloning but it seems to only let me do 1:1 at a time and not 1:many.
do i set up the ghost boot disk with static ip address or DHCP server,
the static ip address method took me 2 hours, yes 2 hours to clone a single 44GB HDD -_- via the hub

with the static ip address method i was able to clone successully but this was 1:1 only. i want to try DHCP but i dont know how to do it, since it always gives errors. maybe i need a dedicated server correct?

or maybe if someone could type here how to map a drive to clone to multiple machines please .

 

[Lazn_Work]

hmm with Ghost I have "ghosted" 20GB of data in less than 5 min. And I have done a broadcast server and cloned 5 at once in under 10 min. So I don't know what you are fighting with.

==>Lazn

 

[Dr3wStx]

If you're going to try and clone 40 drives with a HUB....good luck thats gunna take forever and a day...you need a switch.

Anways, if you set up a multicast ghost from your server you should be able to do all 40 at the same time...at the same speed.

I don't rember all the details, but thats a start

 

[Lazn_Work]

If you're going to try and clone 40 drives with a HUB....good luck thats gunna take forever and a day...you need a switch.

Good point, I was using a switch not a hub. There is a huge difference in actual throughput between the two.

==>Lazn

 

[ambit]

If you're using Ghost 2003 (aka 8.0) and have a GhostCast server setup on one of the machines this should be pretty easy.
Net boot all other machines with the floppy wizard and start a session on the server.

Choose 'restore image'
give it a session name
give it the path to the .gho file
and click 'accept clients'

When the clients get booted up to the Ghost program there is a GhostCast -> MultiCast option about 1/2 way up the menu. tell it what the session name is, and you should start seeing them pop up on the server. When they are all joined into the session click 'Send'
and all 40 should start getting it. You may want to break it up into smaller chunks of computers, and make sure this little network is not uplinked into a production environment while Multicasting. You might see a ton of packets dumping out esp. if you are using hubs.

My GhostCast machine is a 2003 server so i can run DHCP off of it, but you can statically assign each one an IP.

 

[leeroy]

is there a tutorial on this, or where can i get more information. that is one problem i had. trying to aassign each PC its own ip address; i had to created through the nortons boot disk wizard.

i am also not sure how to setup a dhcp server, please teach me.

the problem is i will probaly use a bootable usb disk, since these systems are
- no fdd drives
- segate 120gb
- lg dvd rom - no use since cloning s/w is 44gb in size so cannot place onto dvd-r
- shuttle xpc
- intel 2.6 ghz
- radeon 9600 i think
- 256mb ddr ram

 

[leeroy]

thanks for the tip, i found it http://nsweb.lane.edu/netservices/pchelp/ghost/

however im using nortons 2003 but i cant see that ghost cast server sub program in my nortons??? =/

 

[Cardboard Hammer]

If nothing else, you could clone 1.
Then use the original and the clone at the same time in different computers to generate 2 more clones.
Then use the original and the clones at the same time in different computers to generate 4 more clones.
Then use the original and the clones at the same time in different computers to generate 8 more clones.
Then use the original and the clones at the same time in different computers to generate 16 more clones.
Then use the original and 8 of the clones at the same time in different computers to generate 8 more clones.

40 identical drives in little more than the time it would take to generate 6 clones one by one.

 

[ambit]

however im using nortons 2003 but i cant see that ghost cast server sub program in my nortons??? =/

Start -> Programs -> Symantec Ghost -> GhostCast Server

if you don't see that on your 'server' you may not have the right Ghost version (enterprise is what you need, IIRC) or you didn't select that option when you installed it.

That 'how to' you linked to is dead on. Looks like they're using version 7 from the icons.

 

[Cardboard Hammer]

... make sure this little network is not uplinked into a production environment while Multicasting. ...

I can attest to that. Someone where I work managed to stuff up our connection to the outside world (>T1) by failing to take that precaution.

 

[leeroy]

oh! no wonder i am using nortons ghost 2003 from the system works package

thanks alot guys, i see what i can do to obtain it. argh trail version not downloadable atm as we speak, i have nortons premium 2005 if that helps>?