I used to do that for a companies training room, I had approximately 100 machines as well and I worked in another location.
I used the RIS process I was able to do a wake on lan and image the PCs in the training room remotely..
I hope this helps..
Table 5.18 RIS Components and Users
Component Description User
Remote Installation Services Setup (Risetup.exe)
Sets up the RIS server.
Server administrator
Remote Installation Services Administrator
Configures Group Policy settings relating to RIS.
Server administrator
Remote Installation Preparation wizard (Riprep.exe)
Creates operating system images and installs them on the RIS server. You can also use Riprep.exe to create application images to install applications with the operating system.
Desktop administrator
Remote Installation Services boot disk (Rbfg.exe)
Creates the bootable floppy disk required to install RIS-based operating systems on certain client computers.
Desktop administrator
Client Installation wizard (Oschooser.exe)
Selects the RIS image that the user must install. This wizard is used on the client computer.
End user
The following sections discuss how to plan for RIS from a client perspective and how to use the Remote Installation Preparation wizard, the Remote Installation Services boot disk, and the Client Installation wizard. For more information about how to use the server components, see the Distributed Systems Guide .
During the initial startup sequence, the client computer connects to a Windows 2000–based server computer configured with RIS. The server subsequently installs Windows 2000 Professional on the client computer, as shown in Figure 5.4.
Figure 5.4 Installing Windows 2000 from a RIS Server
RIS allows the administrator to configure Windows 2000 Professional and any applications for a single group of users, and then to apply this configuration when installing the operating system on client computers. For users, the result is a simplified and timely installation and configuration of their computer and a more rapid return to productivity if a hardware failure occurs.
Administrators have two options when using RIS:
CD-based installation The CD-based option is similar to setting up a workstation directly from the Windows 2000 Professional operating system CD; however, the source files reside across the network on available RIS servers.
Sysprep imaging installation The Sysprep imaging option allows a network administrator to clone a standard desktop configuration, complete with operating system configurations and desktop customizations. After installing and configuring Windows 2000, its services, and any standard applications on a workstation, the network administrator runs a wizard that prepares the installation image and replicates it to available RIS servers. Remote boot–enabled client computers can then request to install that image locally from the RIS servers on the network.
The BIOS of the client computer or a special remote boot disk can initiate a network service boot. When a network service boot is requested, DHCP provides an IP address for the client computer, and the client can then download the Client Installation wizard. At this point, the wizard prompts the user to log on, and, depending on the user's credentials or security group membership, displays a menu that offers appropriate customized unattended operating system installation options. (The network administrator uses Group Policy settings to determine which installation options are available to a user, based on the policy defined for that user at the client computer that initiated the network service boot request.)
If you have a Windows 2000 Server infrastructure with RIS installed and a client computer with the appropriate hardware, you can install Windows 2000 Professional and any applications on that client computer, remotely and automatically.
For more information about installing and configuring RIS on a server computer that supplies the installation images, see Remote OS Installation in the Distributed Systems Guide.
For more information about how to plan for installing and upgrading client systems using RIS, see Applying Change and Configuration Management and Automating Client Installation and Upgrade in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit Deployment Planning Guide .
Terminology
To better understand Remote Installation Services, it is necessary to know these terms:
A remote boot-enabled client computer is a computer that meets the PC98 version 0.6 or later design specification and includes a Pre-Boot eXecution Environment (PXE) remote-boot ROM.
A RIS server computer is a computer running Windows 2000 Server with RIS installed and configured.
PXE is a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)–based technology that client computers use to start up remotely over the network and install Windows 2000 Professional from a RIS server.
A boot ROM is a BIOS-oriented chip on a network adapter that is responsible for initiating the sequence to start the client computer remotely.
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Planning for Client Configuration with Remote Installation Services
Figure 5.5 illustrates the major steps for configuring RIS.
Figure 5.5 Planning Steps for RIS
To ensure that a remote installation can proceed successfully, prepare the client computer for installation from a RIS server by completing the following tasks. Table 5.19 lists the tasks that the server administrator performs on a RIS server versus those that the desktop administrator performs on the client.
Table 5.19 Tasks for Preparing a Client Computer for a Remote Installation
Task Description User
Verify that the client hardware meets requirements.
The client computer must meet the requirements for Windows 2000 Professional installation and have a bootable network adapter or be enabled for remote startup. All computers that meet the PC98 0.6 and later design specification include a PXE remote-boot ROM for RIS. For client computers that do not contain a PXE ROM, use the Remote Installation boot disk to create a floppy disk that initiates the RIS process.
Desktop administrator
Set user rights on a domain controller or member server running RIS.
The user account used to install an operating system on the client computer must have Logon as a Batch Job user rights. Use Group Policy to grant users or administrators Logon as a Batch Job rights.
Server administrator
Set required permissions on the RIS server.
If users are allowed to use RIS to install an operating system on client computers, those users need correct permissions for creating computer accounts within the domain, specifically the Organizational Unit container specified in the Advanced Settings on the RIS Server. Use Active Directory Users and Computers to set permissions on a container that allows users to use RIS to install an operating system on their own computers.
Server administrator
Specify installation options on the RIS server.
On the RIS server you can use Group Policy settings to restrict the installation options and the operating-system images that are available to users during remote installation. To restrict images, set access control permissions on the folders containing the installation images.
Server administrator
Configure the network adapter on the client computer.
You must configure the network adapter of the client computer as the primary startup device within the system BIOS. This allows the client computer to request a network service startup from the RIS server on the network.
Desktop administrator
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Using the Remote Installation Preparation Wizard
The Remote Installation Preparation wizard provides the ability to prepare a Windows 2000 Professional installation, including locally installed applications and specific configuration settings, and to replicate that image to an available RIS server on the network. The wizard feature currently supports replication of a single disk single partition (Drive C only) Windows 2000 Professional installation. This means that the operating system and the applications included with the standard installation must reside on drive C before running the wizard.
First, use the RIS feature to remotely install the Windows 2000 Professional operating system on a client computer. After the operating system is installed, you can install any application, including in-house business applications. You can then configure the installation to adhere to company policies. For example, you might define specific screen colors, set the background bitmap to a company logo, and set intranet proxy server settings within Internet Explorer. After the workstation is configured and has been tested, you can run the Remote Installation Preparation wizard from the RIS server.
The destination computer (that is, the computer that installs the image) does not need to have identical hardware as that of the computer that was used to create the image. However, the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) drivers must be the same (for example, they both must be ACPI-based or both must be non-ACPI-based). In many cases, workstation class computers do not require unique HAL drivers as server class computers do. During image installation, the wizard features use Plug and Play to detect differences between hardware on the source and the destination computers.
To run the Remote Installation Preparation wizard
1.
Install the standard Windows 2000 Professional operating system from a RIS server on a client computer that supports RIS.
2.
Install any applications locally on the client computer. Configure the client computer with any specific corporate standard desktop settings. Be sure the client installation is correct. After the image is replicated to the RIS server, you cannot modify its configuration.
3.
Connect to the