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NAL and ZEN: Drew’s history of application and computer management

NAL and ZEN: Drew’s history of application and computer management. Mike Richichi, Director of Computing and Network Services Paul Coen, Manager of Systems Administration Drew University, Madison NJ TTP 2003 Salt Lake City, UT. One slide about Drew.

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NAL and ZEN: Drew’s history of application and computer management

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  1. NAL and ZEN: Drew’s history of application and computer management Mike Richichi, Director of Computing and Network Services Paul Coen, Manager of Systems Administration Drew University, Madison NJ TTP 2003 Salt Lake City, UT

  2. One slide about Drew • Laptops for students (20th year of student computers) • Campuswide network for all students, faculty, staff, using Client 32 for access to Netware file/print • Centralized file servers, network administration, PC deployment, and network application management • Technology part of university mission, important part of reputation

  3. Timeline • 1995: We see NAL 1.0 for the first time • 1996: NAL 1.0 rolled out as part of initial campus network (Win 3.1, 95) • 1997—2002: Upgrades through Zen 3.2, mainly using application launcher and workstation management • 2003: Upgrade to Zen 4.01, inventory management, imaging

  4. The real beginning

  5. 1995 • We attend a Novell event to see WordPerfect for Windows 95, and they say, “Hey, look at this! It’s a folder, but it’s not a folder. These applications are in NDS and stuff. Cool!” • And the Snapshot tool • Cool, indeed

  6. 1996 • Drew implements campus network • NAL 1.0 used to deliver “menu” of applications to users • User support issues • can’t use things that aren’t on the menu

  7. 1997-2002 • Upgrades to NAL • NAL becomes Zen • Lotsa BrainShares and TTPs • Use a little workstation management for lab computers, but not for fac/staff desktops or student computers

  8. Today • Zen 3.2 SP2 in production • Zen 4.01 installed on servers • Zen 4 Agent MSI not distributed outside of IT departments yet • Application launcher used extensively for app installs • Office, Macromedia, Adobe, Mozilla, Keyserver client, various viewers and plugins • SPSS, Mathcad, other academic applications

  9. Today continued • With Windows 2000/XP, DLU unsupportable for large number of users due to password problem • Ended up using DirXML to synchronize Active Directory and eDirectory, got rid of DLU and stopped using Zen to distribute group policies • We’re much happier

  10. ZfD 4.01 Deployment • Installed on Netware 6 cluster - this may delay Netware 6.5 adoption • New cluster node brought in recently - had to install ZfD 3.2 SP2 and 4.01 • Plan on rolling out Agent MSI to all Windows 98 SE and Windows XP desktops in late July/August via NAL

  11. ZfD 4.01 Plans • Already using MSI installs for some products, including Wise Install Tailor • May purchase a full MSI manipulation package • Plan on using Workstation Inventory and integrating data with our new Helpdesk management software (Support-Works) • May use imaging in specific environments after testing • No plans to use Middle Tier server

  12. Other Plans • Review all existing application installations - some can benefit from new/improved application chaining, customized Transforms or building MSI-based distributions • Use ZfD 4.01 requirements as an excuse to eliminate Windows 95 and 98 (Office 2003 will take care of Windows 98 SE)

  13. Student computers • Currently do no workstation management, only provide applications • Fall 2003 computers will be in the domain, will be registered, inventoried, and managed • Doing this for 450 computers at once is being called “Extreme Deployment” by our staff • Drew-supplied image, put on systems by IBM

  14. What aren’t we using? • Middle Tier – doesn’t fit into a client-based, clustered environment well • Remote Control – not used in the past for fear of making users uncomfortable, now we have Windows XP Remote Desktop • Imaging – our imaging built around student notebooks, not network deployment • With only 100 or so lab PCs, large-scale networked imaging not a priority • Software Usage Tracking – Keyserver instead • Zen for Servers – Clustering • Zen for Handhelds – No handheld support policy

  15. The Future • New ZENs as they happen • Handhelds? • Policy? • Strategy? • Support?

  16. Concerns • ZEN stability • SPs help a lot • Client migration? Client support? Client existence? • AD support

  17. Open discussion Time for sharing

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