What is a fast way to deploy a computer program to multiple computers?

Set up one Linux system and simply clone it 19 times when configured. As all the computers are probably the same hardware you only will be limited by drive speed.

hmuster123,

I run two systems having identical software. These are networked so I can do 3D modeling on one system and then run renderings on the second. The systems also act as backup to the other in case of a failure or maintenance / hardware upgrade.

Given the number and size of programs (C:\ is 164GB), setting up these two systems is laborious, but there is a method that would be increasingly beneficial proportional to the number of systems: creating a system restore image.

My technique for the past several years has been to set up the primary system OS and programs on a mech'l drive, so
I can fully update (which seems to take at least 10 full restarts), craft the configuration including display drivers, personalization of the desktop, network, updating, power options, web security- everything, and defrag, place system file in priority using a disk optimizer. This is done on a mech'l drive (setup with a partition slightly smaller than the eventual SSD partition) which I switch to when working on the new drive, so I can continue to work using the current SSD. This also saves memory wear on the SSD, in the case of defragging, which I do after loading every program to keep system and program files together as much as possible. I test the resulting setup on Passmark Performance Test to identify setup / performance issues. This has proven very useful: e.g., that using Aero themes with transparency can rob the video performance of 15-20% the 2D and 3D performance and using power saving options can cut CPU performance in half.

Once the OS/ Applications disk is completed and optimized, I make a system restore image using Easeus ToDo Backup Workstation.There are a number of applications of this kind and your use would probably require an enterprise level. I did not have success with Acronis products. The key feature of this software is that it needs to have a "restore to dissimilar hardware" subprogram. Using that feature, it's possible to load and configure all the target systems by simply selecting "restore to dissimilar hardware" and sending the system image to the target drive letter. In my example, I set this up on my 2015 HP z420, and send the system image to an external drive on the network. Then I can setup a duplicate system on the HP z420 and 2011 Dell Precision T5500 and set the destination drive on both systems as the SSD. These both have Windows 7 Professional 64-bit COA's, so when the setup is complete- which sometimes takes some detail work with drivers for the GPU's but Win7 Pro automatically loads the drivers for the elderly WiFi adapter Dell multimedia keyboard on theT5500. then, when everything is in order, I can activate windows from the COA codes. In my example, programs often require separate activation, but if you have multi-licensed educational editions, these may all activate with a single license.

The original, pristine system image is kept in a separate partition on the external drive and copied to the T5500 external drive for backup. As programs accumulate errors, or if there was a catastrophic failure or virus, I can quickly restore the whole system as I keep a copy of all the files on the same external drive and that drive is only running when backing up- i.e. isolated from system problems.

This method has worked very well over the last five years and saved days of extra work as I've changed computers. The setup method of crafting on a mech'l drive has also worked well in terms of perfrmance as the HP z420 is the highest performing z420 on Passmark and the T5500 is the highest performing single CPU T5500.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

Pending upgrade: HP /LSI 9212-4i PCIe SAS /SATA HBA RAID controller, 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB (RAID 1)

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3490 / CPU = 9178 / 2D= 685 / 3D= 3566 / Mem= 1865 / Disk= 2122] [Cinebench 15 > CPU = 772 OpenGL= 99.72 FPS] 7.8.15