Redesigning an internet cafe, need help and feedback

M

Meown

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Hello everybody. So here at work we have an internet cafe where service is available by the hour. Right now all the systems are running windows xp, and so to maintain them we have been using the Windows SteadyState program, so that the computers can remain fully unlocked and usable for customers while also not needing to worry about them messing with it or infecting it with a virus, ect.

The way SteadyState works is after we have the system configured to how we like, the program creates a read-only backup image that it will boot from, so no changes are saved between reboots. It works but it is clumsy, difficult to maintain, and does not work with vista/7.

I've been charged with the task of figuring out a better system, and one that works with windows 7 so we can upgrade a number of our systems available. At that point we would have 3 different hardware configurations, Pentium4 with XP, Core2D with XP, and Core2D with 7.

So far what I've found and am currently trying to learn about is imagex and .wim files. I think what I'm trying to do, if it's possible, is create a single .wim image for each configuration, and have each system boot from this image every time. So to make changes or update the system, I would just have to work on one computer, image it, and copy that image to the other identical systems.

Things I need help with/don't know:
- Is it even possible to boot windows from a local read-only .wim image?
- each computer should have a unique network name, would that be possible using the same image (such as with windows deployment services [don't really know how that works or will be used at this point])?
- If I need a server to get this to work, i should be able to add a window 2003 or 2008 to that network, but it's still on 10/100 so i'd prefer not to boot from the network.
- as opposed to booting from the network, could I get the client to download a new .wim image over pxe (such as by manually selecting pxe boot from bios startup only to pull updated images) and then boot from the local drive?

Right now I've just finished downloading the windows AIK, so my current step is just creating a test .wim image.

This is well beyond the scope of my normal job description, but I'd really like to be able to get it working. I'm very new to windows server and deployment situations and most of what I know I've learned in the past two days, so any help or even links to read up on would be much appreciated!


Edit: is this even in the right section? I put it here because I had the integration with server 2003/2008 on my mind, but after reading it over I realize most of my questions are regarding local file access.
 
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I would look at Deep Freeze if you wanted to move to Windows 7 and still have locked images to revert back to.
 
Deep freeze seems to have the same issues as steadystate that I wanted to get away from, particularly that to make any changes or updates, each individual system must 'thaw', be changed, then re-frozen.

For a few systems it wouldn't be too bad, but I'm trying to manage 30-40 machines and updating that way takes way too much time to finish all of them even if all I'm doing is windows security updates.
 
I don't know about Steady State but Deep Freeze has a management console, where you can freeze/thaw, change settings, etc for all of your systems at once. Then you can automate Windows updates, software installation, configuration changes and etc.
 
Holy cow that's expensive. at $180 per 5 systems per year, deep freeze is really not an option. at all.

This project pretty much has a budget of what I can find here in the store and possibly a server license if my boss is in a good mood.
 
There are still internet cafes? Not to be an ass, but what's the point when everyone and their mother (no joke) has a smart phone?
 
The point is people use it and pay for it, so it should be maintained. I personally would never have use for it either, but many people do. An average afternoon will see around 15 users logged in at any given time, sometimes more sometimes fewer.
 
This is going to come out of left field and I don't like to be that guy who recommends something completely unrelated to what you are doing but, what if you ran a different operating system? Do people do much outside of a browser? You could run Ubuntu or something there are even open source operating systems for cafes/libraries/the like which only run a web browser.

The browser itself won't look any different so user training/familiarity won't matter.
 
We already have two ubuntu systems in the mix, but apart from one particular user, nobody else will choose that box over windows. Many people also use word, excel, and itunes or they want to install some of their own software. That's really one of our largest advantages over the local kinkos (besides the prices), we don't lock down the system at all during a user's session, just reboot when they're done.

and lets be frank, most people who would use a cafe need something that is just familiar. If there is anything that they don't understand, I will and do get questions. I'm trying to avoid getting customer questions :p
 
Oh, and as an actual update - I feel like I'm getting close to something workable.

I have a test system setup, and used imagex to create the .wim image.

so my next step is to try to mount the wim in a vhd, then change the boot.ini to boot from the vhd first.

if that works and I can figure out a basic automated setup config file for each system (really just to designate the unique network name), then whenever i want to update the systems I could just get a new image onto a flash drive, log into the windows installed on the disk, replace the old image, remount it with the custom setup config, and... magic?

I might have time to work with it a bit tomorrow.
 
I was going to try out steadierstate for Win7, but havent gotten around to it, although you need W7 ultimate...but your buying the OS as well anyway right?
 
ah damn it all.

So I had my .wim file created, installed the image to a vhd, told windows to boot from the vhd.... and...

The systems have Win7 Pro. booting from a vhd is only supported in ultimate or enterprise.

So with budget constraints in mind, what do I try next? I feel like the effort of the past two days just needs to be counted as a loss and find a different angle to work the issue.

What about virtualization? I might have to switch over to the other forum section, but what if I had either windows or linux automatically boot to a windows virtual machine with a read-only image? Then to update the systems I would just need to replace the old image with an updated file? I don't have much experience, but I like learning and problem solving :)
 
For what it is worth, I remember reading an article on the News section on here that a guy did at his hosue. He built a custom "gaming" house that had 16 or so workstations setup in it and built into the wall and such. Anyhow, I remember reading the article and he had some setup that would "wipe" the machines on a reboot and restore them to original state. I can't remember more of the details of how it worked, but that was part of the setup.

The guy was in CA, and I think he worked for Google. Maybe you can track down that article and contact the guy. I almost want to say that he custom programmed something to make it happen. I'm pretty sure it was Windows 7 he was using. Someone else here might remember more details on it to help your search. Good luck.
 
Another thought: Why not go with a thin client setup ... that way each time it reboots it is erased and starts over again.
 
jtr8178 said:
Another thought: Why not go with a thin client setup ... that way each time it reboots it is erased and starts over again.
Click to expand...


Yea I was just thinking this. You can always convert to a view infrastructure, virtualize everything, decrease the amount of equipment plus the cost to maintain, and make your life much easier maintaining the desktops.

30-40 might seem a lot to maintain, but the last view deployment we did was around 200 and that is a hell of a lot easier to maintain that 200 desktops.
 
jtr8178 said:
For what it is worth, I remember reading an article on the News section on here that a guy did at his hosue. He built a custom "gaming" house that had 16 or so workstations setup in it and built into the wall and such. Anyhow, I remember reading the article and he had some setup that would "wipe" the machines on a reboot and restore them to original state. I can't remember more of the details of how it worked, but that was part of the setup.

The guy was in CA, and I think he worked for Google. Maybe you can track down that article and contact the guy. I almost want to say that he custom programmed something to make it happen. I'm pretty sure it was Windows 7 he was using. Someone else here might remember more details on it to help your search. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I think this is the guy you mean. http://kentonsprojects.blogspot.co.nz/2011/12/lan-party-optimized-house.html
 
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