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I am the Ghost Master!
June 6, 2005
I am the Ghost Master!
One of the first things I was told when I was brought onboard the IT dept was that I would be in charge of figuring out how to get Ghost to format more than one machine at a time on the network. I really wasn’t all that worried until everyone in the dept recalled their own personal horror stories of trying to get Ghost to work on multiple machines. The more I heard, the more nervous I began to get. Not only was this a pretty big deal, something that was very critical with the endless number of machines we have to re-image but it was kind of my first real responsibility and sorely needed. A biggie. At first glance they all seemed bright and if they had so much trouble with it, ah, well it ain’t looking good for the FNG, ya know what I’ saying? I got a pretty good feeling that everyone was glad to be rid of this headache… because they all kept telling me they were glad to get rid of this headache.
Ulp.
I was given Symantec’s phone number, website address and told that I would be talking to them quite frequently; handed enough manuals to choke a horse and a neat LARGE bottle of aspirin. Sure, they said good luck, were really obviously looking forward to someone performing a few miracles with this beast but they also had that whole “he’s screwed/ dead man walking” look whenever I sat down to read all about Ghost.
Greeeattt!
Amidst all the chaos of helping people I finally got enough time to hook up four computers to the network and make my first stab at Ghosting them. Four. At the same time. When everyone had trouble doing more than one I think I’m going to get four going right off the bat?! Ambitious? Screw it, I thought I’m all in on this one! It’s either going to be a spectacular success or quite a nose-diving failure. What the kelp…
Wouldn’t you know it the first time I tried it all four worked perfectly. Surprised us all, I can tell you! Not a bad start if I must say so myself; although I don’t know who was more stunned, my new friends or me… hehehe…. Boo-freaking-ya!
After further tweaking and experimenting I’m consistantly re-imaging four machines at a time (be it laptops or desktops) and as soon as we get a new 8-port KVM switch I’m going for the real gusto; 8 at once! See, we usually get shipments of 8 new computers and even though I’ve managed to drastically shorten the prep time to roll new ones out with my mad Ghosting skills, I know I can shave even more time off if I had the right equipment. Heck if I daisy chain the routers maybe 11 at a time? Hmmm…
…it’s not about the bragging, the quicker I can get all the new computers arriving imaged and ready, the easier it is on all of us and the more time we have to get other things done. I’ve managed to drastically cut the impact imaging/re-imaging machies had on our dept, now if I could just figure out how to change my number so there aren’t so many help calls. Hey, wait a sec, I do know how now… hehehe… I can reprogram any phone now, let alone re-wire them too. Oooh, yeah.
I am the Ghost Masta! Woo-hoo!
Hey, maybe one day they’ll honor me by putting my name on the door. Nah…
I am the Ghost Masta! Woo-hoo!
Peace Y’all.
17 comments
Ok who stole my King Graham figurine? Must've been Rosella, you know her attitude.
. But you can call me Ghost Rida if you like Shannon: admiration and fear are good but I usually get the two confused. Which is usually caused by holding a large knife? Feh. No matter as long as they do what I tell them to...
Ben: Of course I multicast *gasp* This is the Vin you're talking about! I count each and every byte of traffic, for as you know every byte of bandwith is a precious thing and I hate those that waste 'em!
(closes streaming music window)
I do want to use a laptop to send an image to a single computer for when a box becomes troublesome not wanting to PXE though. Connect up direct and ba-boom. Don't know exactly how feasible that is, but can come in handy for stubborn units in the field. Probably have to use TCP/IP that way, not sure yet.
Actually right now I'd kind of love to rig up the ability to Ghostcast from my desktop to the folks' computer (they're on a wireless card to a router) so that I can backup their stuff or re-image without too much fuss. Don't know the requirements for that yet... hmmm...
Anyone got any Scooby Snacks? Raggy?!
That's how Scooby Doo talks in the cartoons. Besides I had to have a little fun with bluemage's comment. Sorry if I put in wrong.
RAGGY!
I'd kill for a Scooby Snack...
It was sad. VH1 did a special on it.
Baby got game. And a sandwich.
some fun.
Create a server out of spare parts, give it a name, and tell your bosses it does something really important, but be very vague about how it works; always brag about it's uptime, 'hasn't crashed in 90 days'
I may try to do this at my next job. Build a computer to read email called, 'Mccarthy.'
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