average time to get a new machine into production?

[dnix]

Hi all. i am looking for just some general feedback on how long it takes for a shop to get brand new hadware into your production pipeline. That would include getting the image squared away, drivers worked out, etc...I know this is subjective, I'm just wondering what other people have to say so I can get an idea for goal setting.

[IcemanND]

Depends upon the changes made to the hardware from previous models.

The latest new systems we deployed, the changes to the image took about a 16 hours to complete and test. Normally it takes about 4-8 but the latest processors and BIOS required a certain HAL to be installed to boot correctly. But times will vary depending upon what you have to update. My images are only updated for hardware, software and updates are handled via SMS, WSUS, or scripted installs depending upon the system final config.

[dandirk]

This is a pretty open ended question, much depends on the method of imaging/deployment is used and also the policies of device setup.

IcemanND's quotes are pretty much in line with our time frames (his imaging methods are probably close to ours). Ours probably would be a bit longer though closer to 16 hours if there are no "catches".

The huge determining factor like IcemanND said would be the type of model. If your shop is a dell/hp only type shop things will be faster because most of the time the hardware/drivers are very similar between models. Bugs/oddities are generally known already. Where as if you are a mixed brand shop things get much more complicated.

We are an HP shop and have 12 models, 6 desktops and 6 laptops all running on 1 single image. Laptops usually are the problem due to special software like hotkey utilities etc. We don't install them just the drivers for limited functionality. This is easier though if you can deploy software based on model #(we can't yet!!!).

HAL issues should be pretty close to being a thing of the past, at least for us. Only 1 model (our oldest laptop), uses a different HAL. But as IcemanND said, if there is a change this requires a bit more testing but is pretty easy to deal with if the image creator has seen it before.

Just as an example this is our process for new models...

1. Setup a standard XP install on new model and install drivers as needed by device manager. During install we figure out if we can use previous SATA AHCI drivers, if not find proper ones.

2. Extract installed drivers using any one of the tools out there. Update driver directories (for sysprep) adding new drivers.

3. Load a pre-sysprep version of our master image, add updated driver directory, update sysprep.inf with new SATA driver path if needed and any addition HAL commands again if needed.

4. Run sysprep and image master image PC (after any clean up required before systeprep, delete inf cache, uninstall drivers etc)

5. Install new image on ALL models (you have a DHS don't you ) , note any driver issues and also record installed version of driver. Sometimes the drivers for the new models will be used on older models.

6. Update the driver directory with only used versions of drivers, phasing out older drivers if not used on any models.

7. Run steps 3-5 again with updated drivers directory to confirm no driver/imaging issues.

8. Test software deployment on new image and then deploy to limited test users until satisfied there are no issues.

Edited March 16, 2009 by dandirk