Pros and Cons of ADS, RIS and WUIM Deployments and Re-Deployments

This page was last updated on September 21, 2006
Written by R.Collewijn

Introduction

Deployment and re-deployment of Microsoft Windows® operating systems and applications to bare-metal computers is a key responsibility of IT operations. Microsoft offers two deployment solutions: Automated Deployment Services (ADS) and Remote Installation Services (RIS). With Windows Unattended Installation Manager (WUIM) there is a third solution.

The reliability, speed, and ease of deployment and re-deployment of computers can have a major impact on minimizing disruptions to the business, reducing IT operations costs, and improving customer satisfaction—particularly in large distributed computing environments and mission-critical situations. This article compares the core attributes of ADS, RIS and WUIM so that you can determine which solution best fits your deployment needs.

Deployment Scenarios

Requirements for deployment solutions vary widely depending on the deployment scenario under consideration. Some scenarios favor a script-based or installation-based approach, while others are better served by image-based deployments. Other considerations for selecting a deployment solution include the following:

Whether deployments are typically initiated by a user (or client) versus an administrator (or deployment controller).
Whether single or small numbers of simultaneous deployments typically are used versus bulk deployment to large numbers of computers.
Whether deployment standardization is needed versus customizability.

Comparing ADS, RIS and WUIM

To cover this range of requirements, three deployment solutions:

ADS is a new solution delivered with Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, and Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition, and is designed for automated, high-speed server deployment.
RIS was first delivered with Windows 2000 and has been enhanced in Windows Server 2003 to enable fully automated deployments. RIS now supports deployments to servers as well as to desktops.
WUIM is a freeware solution is based upon Microsoft's unattended installation process and PXE (Preboot eXecution Environment) technology.

Of the three solutions, only RIS and WUIM supports deployment of desktops—that is, computers targeted to run a Windows client operating system, such as Windows XP. ADS is designed and optimized for deployment of servers—that is, ADS is targeted to run a Windows server operating system, such as Windows Server 2003.

It’s recommend you to review the capabilities of ADS, RIS and WUIM to determine which solution best meets your specific needs. The following table provides information on the key capabilities and distinguishing attributes of the three solutions.

Key Attributes of ADS, RIS and WUIM

	ADS	RIS	WUIM
Typical usage	Large-scale, administrator-initiated, high-speed, task sequence-driven deployments of servers in data center or corporate computing environments	Sequential, user-initiated, Active Directory® configuration-based deployments in corporate computing environments	Large-scale, user-initiated, configuration-based deployments in any computing environments
Core Attributes
Deployment of operating systems	Windows Server 2003: All 32- bit versions Windows 2000: All Server editions (does not deploy Windows 2000 Professional)	Windows XP: All editions except Home EditionWindows Server 2003: All 32-bit versions Windows Server 2003, 64-bit version (scripted setup only)Windows 2000: All editions (Professional and Server)	All Microsoft Operation System with unattended installation support.
Availability (Including/Running with)	Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition	All versions of Windows Server 2003 except Web Edition All versions of Windows 2000 Server (not available with Windows 2000 Professional)	Shared directory and TFTP server
Deployment method	Image-based	Script-based or file-based	File based
Deployment initiatiation	Deployment controller (push model)	Deployment target (pull model)	Deployment target (pull model)
Support for multicast deployments	Yes	No	No
Number of concurrent deployments per server	Up to 128 (multicast). Deployment speed not affected by number of concurrent deployments per server.	Up to 75 (not multicast). Deployment speed (per deployment) reduced with increasing number of concurrent deployments per server.	Up to X (not multicast). Deployment speed reduced with increasing number of concurrent deployments per server.
Deployment of multiple volumes per computer	Yes, ability to simultaneously deploy to multiple volumes	No	Yes, ability to simultaneously deploy to multiple volumes
Configuration-Related Attributes
Active Directory requirement	No	Yes	No
Configuration storage source	Microsoft SQL Server™ database	Active Directory	6 INI files
Hardware configuration	DOS tools	Windows PE tools	Bart PE and WUIM

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