Specops Deploy Features

Overview    Features    Technology    References

 

Fully automated deployment

Specops Deploy is a full featured deployment system capable of fully automating any operating system and software installation tasks needed by your organization. Here are some examples of what the system can do for you.

Operating System Deployment

  • Zero touch deployment of all Windows versions from XP all the way up to Windows 8.
  • Integrates Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 with Active Directory, which removes the need to rely on any other database for computer account information.
  • Ability to re-install computers directly from the Active Directory Users and Computers console.
  • Group Policy based assignment of which OS image should apply to which computers.
  • Greatly enhances the driver management found in MDT.
  • Automatically replicates deployment shares across all deployment servers through DFS-R. This ensures that the latest images and drivers are always present at the deployment servers.
  • Automates the process of importing new or existing images into the system.
  • Real-time progress feedback from clients during installations, including the ability to read the actual installation log.
  • Ability to retain user data between operating system re-installations.
  • System monitoring ensures that all deployment servers are healthy and responding to clients.
  • Extremely fast implementation time.

Software Deployment

  • Group Policy based software deployment truly enforces settings on all affected clients and servers.
  • The same type of targeting as found in Group Policy Preferences allow extremely granular control over where software should be installed.
  • Supports software installations while Windows is started or when users are logging in.
  • Supports software installation while the computer is running, both with or without
  • Detailed feedback about the progress, success or failure of the software deployment process.
  • Supports non Windows Installer based installations, such as a setup.exe or a scripted installation process.
  • Uses BITS for package downloads which ensures the best possible performance over slow or unreliable network links.
  • Schedules software deployment to fit your timetable.
  • Native support for MSP (MS Patch) files.

Microsoft Modern UI application deployment

Specops Deploy offers full support for deploying the new Windows 8 Modern UI style applications right out of the box.

Deploying these applications is just as simple as managing older Windows application installations.

Microsoft App-V support

Specops Deploy / App comes with built-in support for deploying Microsoft App-V virtual applications to your clients. The system also offers the following unique features for App-V deployment:

  • Group Policy based configuration of the App-V client settings.
  • Ability to automatically install the App-V client if it is needed on the client before any App-V packages are deployed.
  • Support for deploying native App-V applications, which removes the need to package them prior to the deployment.

App-V applications are not installed like normal applications on the client computer. Instead the application is published, which means that the application will be downloaded to the local computer when the user uses it for the first time. This makes patching a virtual application very simple. After a patch has been applied, the new version of the virtual application is simply added to a streaming server and tagged as an upgrade. The upgraded application will then be downloaded to replace the outdated local version the next time a user starts it.

 

Overview    Features    Technology    References