visionapp OpsQuick 2009
"All-You-Can-Eat" Windows OS image capture and deployment: OpsQuick® is licensed by administrator, not by node. That means you, as an administrator, can build and manage every Windows machine in your network, now and in the future, without having to pay additional licensing fees when your network grows.
OpsQuick® automates the deployment of Windows operating systems for servers and workstations. By extending the power of Microsoft Windows Deployment Services (WDS, a component of Windows Server), OpsQuick simplifies and automates the creation, maintenance, and deployment of Windows operating systems to any physical or virtual machine platform. Regardless of whether you're deploying a shiny new operating system, refreshing old installs, or migrating to new machine platforms, OpsQuick can help. By extending the power of WDS, OpsQuick creates a fast, flexible, and consistent Deployment System for Microsoft Windows.
OpsQuick can assist in all phases of Windows migration, upgrades, and refresh. Its management console — based on the powerful console from other visionapp products — makes it easy to manage images. Whether you want to initiate builds via PXE or bootable ISO, OpsQuick significantly accelerates the installation of any current Windows operating system. Installations can be performed ad-hoc or scheduled, use unicast or multicast network communications, and can be completely unattended or interactive personalization.
Benefits
- OpsQuick automates the capture and deployment of Windows images, so build tasks are consistently reproducible, automated, and can be run unattended.
- OpsQuick delivers dramatic time savings relative to manual or semi-manual methods.
- OpsQuick can handle any current Windows version and any machine type - physical or virtual.
- For auditing and compliance, OpsQuick gives you a running log of system changes, OS settings and capture/deployment activities.
Manage as many nodes as you want for one low price
Best of all, OpsQuick is licensed by administrator, not by node. That means you, as an administrator, can build and manage every Windows machine in your network, now and in the future, without having to pay additional licensing fees when your network grows. Don't waste time adding on nodes every time your system grows; use that time to be productive. With OpsQuick, you can manage your systems for about half the price of competing products.
Use OpsQuick to install:
- Windows Server 2003 (32-bit and 64-bit, including R2)
- Windows Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Windows Server 2008 R2 release candidate (64-bit, experimental)
- Windows XP (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Windows 7 release candidate (32-bit and 64-bit, experimental)
Customer Quotes
"visionapp has a winner here with OpsQuick and I highly recommend you test drive this product for yourself."
Michael Keen,
Business & Technology Agility Analyst
DABCC.com
"I had the liberty of testing out OpsQuick in the beta release, and man that is good stuff!"
Alexander Ervik Johnsen,
Citrix Technology Professional
Awards
What does OpsQuick do?
Deploys Windows client and server operating systems, including both x86 and x64 architectures
- One layer of infrastructure supporting all Windows machines eliminates redundancy and simplifies system designs and maintenance
Supports multicast deployments
- Multicast support allows a large number of machines to be deployed concurrently using minimal network bandwidth
- Saves time, especially when performing larger scale deployments
Schedules and completes deployment tasks during off-peak hours
- Reduces the need for administrators to work overtime
- Reduces the need for comprehensive maintenance window
Uses a templating mechanism for OS personalization
- Ensures consistent settings are used throughout the organization
Supports multiple Deployment Servers in multiple locations, all managed from one console
- Ensures consistency of operating system types and settings throughout the organization
- Enables a single administrator to support a much larger number of geographically diverse machines
Detects and stores basic machine inventory information
- Simplifies troubleshooting efforts and provides another level of detail about your infrastructure.
Supports all current and emerging Windows operating systems
- Provides administrators with a way to experiment with release candidates, preparing them to successfully deploy the latest releases when available
Provides a running log of system changes, OS settings and capture/deployment activities
- Assists in auditing/compliance activities
Has a multi-user capable, role-based management console
- Deployment, management, and reporting tasks can be delegated among multiple administrators
Deployment System
Licensing and Pricing for visionapp OpsQuick
Regular prices: $499 / 359€ / £289 per administrator
Whether you manage 40 nodes or 40,000, OpsQuick is only $499 per administrator. That means you can build and manage every Windows machine in your network, now and in the future, without having to pay additional licensing fees when your network grows.
In most cases, we think you'll pay less than half the price of other OS deployment solutions.
1 year of software maintenance and upgrades is included in the license price.
Price List
Properties of the source machine
Defining properties of the source machines is a snap. OpsQuick auto-populates much of the information for you, and the OpsQuick Getting Started Guide leads you through step-by-step.
Image Sysprep Sets
Combine a Source Image (from the Image Store) with a Sysprep Configuration (from the Sysprep Store). Image Sysprep Sets are ultimately assigned to target machines, and define the necessary parameters to deploy and personalize a specific operating system.
Initiating deployment
Once the target machine has been appropriately defined, you can deploy a source image to a target machine with a single click of a button. You can even schedule the job for some time in the future.
Logging and reporting
The status monitor and installation logs give you complete visibility into everything that's happening in your installation.
visonapp OpsQuick F.A.Q's
We have compiled answers to frequently asked questions in this section. For easy navigation these questions and answers have been ordered by subject.
Why do I need Windows Deployment Services (WDS)?
WDS serves some important roles in an OpsQuick deployment system. First, OpsQuick uses the PXE server that WDS installs. In a "normal" OpsQuick deployment system, PXE is the way OpsQuick tells a source or target machine what boot image to download. With OpsQuick, the PXE server ignores all boot requests unless a build job has been sent by the OpsQuick Console. This allows us to build/rebuild machines with no human intervention.
You have two choices of operating system for your WDS server: Windows 2003 or Windows 2008. visionapp recommends Windows 2008. Its IP stack and file server functions are notably faster, and, most importantly, it gives you the ability to do multicast installations with OpsQuick. WDS is a built-in role on either OS, and can be installed from Add/Remove Programs.
visionapp suggests 10GB+ of free drive space. Your OS images are typically stored on the WDS server, so make sure you have enough room to store a few images. A basic XP .wim can be as small as 750MB, and some Vista/Windows 7/Server 2008 images can be as large as 4GB (more with apps installed in the image).
Why do I need Active Directory?
Active Directory does a few important things in an OpsQuick deployment system. A Windows Deployment Services server (WDS) must be either a member of an Active Directory domain or a domain controller for an Active Directory domain. It's also usually the provider of Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Dynamic Name Services (DNS). You must have a working a DNS and a DHCP server with an active scope on the network because WDS uses PXE, which relies on DHCP for IP addressing. If you?re building on a production system, you?ve likely already got the core services (AD, DHCP, and DNS) running on the network. Why do I need Microsoft SQL Server?
Each OpsQuick "Environment" is essentially a database instance. This doesn't have to be a dedicated SQL server — the database usage is lightweight in all but the largest/most complex deployment systems. If you don?t have an SQL server available, the OpsQuick installer will install and configure SQL Express as part of the setup.
Why do I need PXE?
PXE has a reputation for being difficult, but it's not complicated unless you can't route the PXE requests. Some organizations and routers don't forward PXE between IP networks. If this is the case in your organization, your best option is often to put an OpsQuick Deployment server on each IP network you want to build machines on. For some organizations, this will be a network where new servers, desktops, and notebooks are setup and burned in.
What’s a "clean" network, and why do I need one?
A "clean" network, in this context, is one that is a single IP segment (like a build network) and doesn't have any other PXE server on it. As mentioned above, PXE allows us to build machines completely unattended, so you'll probably find it worth creating.
Why do I need drivers in my OpsQuick Deployment System?
Drivers for the network card (NIC) and mass storage controller (MSC) are required for a good unattended installation. Both of these need to be available in two places:
- The visionapp Boot Image (vPE.wim, based on WinPE.wim from the WAIK)
- The source image which you plan to deploy to target machines machine
As long as NIC and MSC drivers are available in both images, you can deploy an OS and add additional drivers afterwards.
Why do I need source/target machines?
While this is a rhetorical question, it's a good opportunity to discuss machine configurations. The main thing you need to pay attention to initially is the network configuration of your machines. Simple is better — a single PXE-capable NIC is perfect. If you have more than 1, make sure that PXE is only enabled on one of them.
To do a completely unattended installation, your source/target machines need to be configured such that PXE booting is enabled, and that the enabled NIC is the first device in the boot order. Both functions are typically configured in the BIOS setup of the machine.
visionapp OpsQuick Upgrade & Support
OpsQuick 2009 is only available with an Upgrade & Support Package.
The duration of support is 1 year from the date of purchase and it will cover the following services:
- Delivery of minor and major releases of visionapp OpsQuick 2009 and subsequent versions
- Delivery of hotfixes and service packs for the current version
- Technical FAQ
Answers to frequently asked questions have been put together in this category. Click here to see our FAQ now. - Support Forum
Our OpsQuick support forum offers extensive information. You can do focused searches with our search engine or post direct questions and get feedback from our technical experts. Click here to research our support forum now.
If your Upgrade & Support package has expired you can renew it at any time. The renewal date will start with the day after the expiration date.