Deployment and re-deployment of Microsoft Windows® operating systems and applications to bare-metal computers is a key responsibility of IT operations. Microsoft offers two deployment solutions in Windows Server 2003: Automated Deployment Services (ADS) and Remote Installation Services (RIS).

The reliability, speed, and ease of deployment and re-deployment of computers can have a major impact on minimizing disruptions to the business, reducing IT operations costs, and improving customer satisfaction—particularly in large distributed computing environments and mission-critical situations. This article compares the core attributes of ADS and RIS so that customers can determine which solution best fits their deployment needs.

Requirements for deployment solutions vary widely depending on the deployment scenario under consideration. Some scenarios favor a script-based or installation-based approach, while others are better served by image-based deployments. Other considerations for selecting a deployment solution include the following:

•	Whether deployments are typically initiated by a user (or client) versus an administrator (or deployment controller).
•	Whether single or small numbers of simultaneous deployments typically are used versus bulk deployment to large numbers of computers.
•	Whether deployment standardization is needed versus customizability.

To cover this range of requirements, Windows Server 2003 includes two deployment solutions:

Of the two solutions, only RIS supports deployment of desktops—that is, computers targeted to run a Windows client operating system, such as Windows XP. ADS is designed and optimized for deployment of servers—that is, ADS is targeted to run a Windows server operating system, such as Windows Server 2003.

Microsoft recommends that customers review the capabilities of ADS and RIS to determine which solution best meets their specific needs. The following table provides information on the key capabilities and distinguishing attributes of the two solutions.

Characteristic	ADS	RIS
Typical usage	Large-scale, administrator-initiated, high-speed, task sequence-driven deployments of servers in data center or corporate computing environments	Sequential, user-initiated, Active Directory® configuration-based deployments in corporate computing environments
Core Attributes
Deployment of operating systems	Deploys: • Windows Server 2003: All 32-bit versions • Windows 2000: All Server editions (does not deploy Windows 2000 Professional)	Deploys: • Windows XP: All editions except Home Edition • Windows Server 2003: All 32-bit versions • Windows Server 2003, 64-bit version (scripted setup only) • Windows 2000: All editions (Professional and Server)
Availability	Included with: • Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition • Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition	Included with: • All versions of Windows Server 2003 except Web Edition • All versions of Windows 2000 Server (not available with Windows 2000 Professional)
Deployment method	Image-based	Script-based or file-based
Deployment initiatiation	Deployment controller (push model)	Deployment target (pull model)
Support for multicast deployments	Yes	No
Number of concurrent deployments per server	Up to 128 (multicast). Deployment speed not affected by number of concurrent deployments per server.	Up to 75 (not multicast). Deployment speed (per deployment) reduced with increasing number of concurrent deployments per server.
Deployment of multiple volumes per computer	Yes, ability to simultaneously deploy to multiple volumes	No
Image-Related Attributes
Deployment image file formats	NTFS, FAT 162, FAT 322	NTFS
Image-editing tools	Yes	No
Automated image filtering based on hardware abstraction layer (HAL) type	No	Yes
Configuration-Related Attributes
DHCP type	Any	Any
Active Directory requirement	No	Yes
Configuration storage source	Microsoft SQL Server™ database	Active Directory
Hardware configuration	DOS tools	Windows PE1 tools
Administration-Related Attributes
Programmatic extensibility	Yes	No

¹ Windows PE is not included with RIS. It is available to Enterprise Agreement, Select License, and Software Assurance customers only.

² Editing of FAT 16 and FAT 32 images is not supported.