How ADS Works

Administrators can use Automated Deployment Services (ADS) to install Windows Server 2003 on a set of servers. Prior to installation the administrator uses the supplied image creation tool to create a master image, creates a set of servers, and defines a sequence of installation tasks to be performed on the servers. The deployment steps are as follows:

(1) The administrator turns on a set of target computers (computers without an OS) that support the Pre-execution Environment (PXE). PXE sends a Distributed Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) discover packet that is heard by DHCP and an ADS Network Boot Service (NBS) services. (Note that the Network Boot and controller services could run on the same server, but they are separated in this illustration.)

(2) The DHCP server responds with a valid IP address for each server in the set.

(3) The NBS contacts the ADS controller service to get a job (a sequence of deployment tasks) for the set of servers.

(4) The NBS uses the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) to download the deployment agent to each server in the set. It then downloads a virtual floppy. (This step is optional; this illustration assumes that the basic input/output system [BIOS] in the target computers needs updating.)