Symantec Ghost Solution Suite
Powerful computer imaging software for PC and lifecycle management

Features & Benefits:

Benefits

Reduces deployment costs, complexity, and time

• Helps ensure that workstations remain consistent and compliant with corporate standards from acquisition to disposal
• Simplifies image management and reduces the number of images needed for deployment by using DeployAnywhere™ technology to deploy hardware independent images
• Fast and reliable deployment and migration of user data and settings to the latest OS, including Windows 7
• Enables administrators to keep images from becoming stale by using hot imaging on a continually updated base machine, and flexible image management options
• Simultaneously deploys hundreds of Windows or Linux client systems across the enterprise in minutes
• Allows administrators to configure and schedule tasks from a centralized console, including rolling out software, upgrading operating systems, executing commands remotely, and targeting computers based on specific hardware and software attributes
• Provides image multicasting to minimize bandwidth usage and speed the deployment of new images
• Enables the use of the Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment, and Linux to accelerate and automate Windows and Linux deployments
• Provides administrators with flexible image options by the ability to deploy VMware (VMDK), Symantec Backup Exec™ System Recovery (V2I), and PowerQuest (PQI) hard disk images

Decreases downtime, risk, and cost of user migrations

• Allows administrators to perform fully managed client-driven migrations, simplifying implementation, maintenance, and user-based operations, and reduces the cost and risk associated with client migration
• Preserves user data and personality settings, minimizing post-migration support costs, disruptions, and end-user downtime
• Allows administrators to set policies that restrict users from adding unauthorized files to the migration package

Facilitates secure PC retirement

• Reduces the risk and liability associated with PC retirement and data disposal by implementing best practice strategies for PC retirement and data disposal
• Ensures that confidential data cannot be recovered from recycled, retired, or leased PCs
• Meets the highest industry standards for secure data disposal, including Department of Defense (DoD) standards

Features

Industry-leading hardware independent imaging

• DeployAnywhere technology inserts hardware drivers at the appropriate time during imaging to support a large variety of hardware configurations
• Creates file-based images of any FAT, NTFS, EXT2, and EXT3 file systems
• Supports logical volumes on Windows and Linux
• Facilitates easy image exploration and extraction of individual files in file-based images, while also allowing the addition, deletion, or modification of any file within any FAT-based image
• Enables sector-based imaging with Smart Sector Technology for creating an exact and efficient image of a system that can be used for rapid OS deployment or system recovery
• Hot imaging creates base images from a live system to ensure that the most up-to-date image is deployed every time
• Image compression saves valuable disk and network space, while significantly reducing the time required to create and restore images over a network
• Support for additional image files, such as VMware (VMDK), Backup Exec System Recovery V2I, and PowerQuest PQI images

Windows and PC migration

• Symantec™ AutoInstall reduces the time and cost of managing software distribution across a network by providing an efficient means of installing application packages and updates
• Custom templates expedite the overall migration process
• Access rights and transport encryption prevent unauthorized access, providing secure transfer and storage of user data
• Web-based self-service tool for user migrations simplifies implementation, maintenance, and user-based operations
• Client staging area minimizes network storage and bandwidth issues

Systems management

• Hardware and software inventory capabilities provide administrators with client machine details that allow them to more effectively manage their image and software deployment, including the ability to design provisioning tasks based on specific client attributes
• Client staging area preserves contents during a cloning or restore to ensure an original state “onboard” recovery solution for every PC, thereby helping to minimize disruption of user productivity
• Multicast file transfers allow administrators to send and execute critical security-related “hot fixes” to multiple recipients simultaneously
• A centralized management console increases IT productivity and helps lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) for networked PCs and workstations
• New recovery kit allows VARs and system integrators to provision an onboard boot environment— eliminating the need to provide bootable media to initiate a recovery process—so the image and recovery environment can now be booted by pressing a function key
• The ability to create detailed reports from fully customizable filters and views gives administrators easy access to the information they need
• Easily create bootable CD-ROMs and USB Flash ROMs for increased flexibility
• Universal network driver allows IT staff to create a single Boot Disk for every PC on their network—regardless of different network cards

PC and data disposal

• GDisk utility ensures that confidential data cannot be recovered from recycled, retired, or leased PCs by using secure disk wiping in accordance with U.S. DoD requirements
• GDisk 32 provides secure disk wiping from Windows PE
• Includes FAT file system formatting, batch mode operation, hiding/unhiding of partitions, and extensive partition reporting

System Requirments:

Following represents minimum hardware and software requirements to run all Symantec Ghost Solution Suite components, which may vary by the components you install.

Symantec Ghost Server and Console

• Windows 8 Pro/Enterprise, Windows 7 Ultimate/Business/Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate/Business/Enterprise, Windows 2000 Professional, Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Windows 2000 Server SP3, Windows Server 2003 Standard/Enterprise SP1, Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard/Enterprise, Windows XP Professional SP2
• Video display, 256 colors at 800 x 600 resolution

Symantec Ghost Console Client

• Windows Networking connectivity
• 64/32-bit Windows OS including Windows 7 Ultimate/Business/Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate/Business/Enterprise, Windows XP, Windows 2000 Professional (excluding support for 64-bit Itanium processors), Windows Server 2008 R2
• 32-bit Windows applications
• Single boot system (no dual boot support)
• Current DOS drivers for workstation network cards

Symantec Ghost Imaging Tools

• Windows 8 Pro/Enterprise, Windows 7 Ultimate/Business/Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate/Business/Enterprise, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server SP3, Windows Server 2003 Standard/Enterprise SP1, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2003 SP2 Standard/Enterprise, Windows XP Professional SP2
• Hardware RAID only supported with Ghost32.exe in Pre-OS environment (MS WinPE or similar)
• Support for FAT, FAT32. NTFS, non-boot GPT partitions, native Linux ExT2 and ExT3

Documentation:

Download the Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 Datasheet (PDF).