MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-270): Installing ...

Lesson 3: Performing Remote Installations
3-25
Remote Installation Services (RIS) is a service that is available for servers running Windows
2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 in a Microsoft Active Directory directory
service environment. The RIS server is a disk image server that contains as many disk
images as are necessary to support the different configurations of Windows XP Professional
on a network. A RIS client is a computer that connects to the RIS server and
downloads an image for installation. The RIS server might be preconfigured to download
a particular image to a client computer, or the user might be able to select an
image manually from a special RIS Administration menu.
Overview of RIS
After this lesson, you will be able to
■ Describe how RIS is used
■ Install and configure RIS on a server running Windows Server 2003
■ Explain requirements for RIS client computers
Estimated lesson time: 60 minutes
Lesson 3 Performing Remote Installations
RIS provides the best features of unattended installations and disk duplication and also
provides a powerful way to make remote installations possible in large network environments.
The basic RIS process works as follows:
1. In an Active Directory domain, you install RIS on a server running Windows 2000
Server or Windows Server 2003. The methods for installation on each version are
different, and each method is covered in this lesson.
2. You load disk images on the RIS server. RIS supports two types of images:
❑ A CD-based image that contains the Windows XP Professional operating
installation files. You can create answer files for these images to automate the
installation process on the client end.
❑ A Remote Installation Preparation (RIPrep) image that can contain the Windows
XP Professional operating system along with other applications. This
image is based on a preconfigured reference computer, much like the computer
used in creating images for disk duplication.
3. A client computer connects to the RIS server over the network. Clients must
conform to the Net PC specification or have a network adapter that supports the
Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) standard for network booting. This
type of adapter allows the client to boot the computer with no pre-existing operating
system installed, locate a RIS server, and start the installation process using
an image on the RIS server. For clients who do not have a PXE-compliant network
adapter, you can create a special boot floppy disk that will allow the client to boot
up and contact the RIS server.