Symantec announced updates to Altiris Deployment Solution and Ghost Solution Suite, comprising a complete operating system deployment, imaging and management portfolio. Symantec is providing the next-generation of OS management technologies to help customers of all sizes address OS and data security concerns, the explosion of virtual systems, and heterogeneous hardware and software platforms.

Symantec offers customers a comprehensive set of solutions for OS management to help reduce IT costs and secure data and systems. Symantec solutions automate projects like system deployment, OS and hardware migration, disk data wipe, disk imaging and system repurposing, software delivery, and disaster recovery.

Steve Morton, Symantec VP of product management and strategy, said, "Software can be complex and costly. Symantec's extensive and advanced software management portfolio helps create confidence in software from the operating system foundation to the end user's unique applications. Next-generation software management is being provided by Symantec through comprehensive OS management, software streaming, application packaging and virtualization, heterogeneous platform support, and software and data security."

Symantec offers Altiris Deployment Solution to medium to large-sized businesses that require automated deployment for heterogeneous client and server environments, virtual machine support and integration with a full IT lifecycle management solution. New features in Deployment Solution 6.9 include:

• A single management console for both virtual and physical OS deployment includes enhanced VMware ESX Server scripted installations.
• Role and scope-based security, based on admin login credentials, provides granular IT access, more security, ease of use, and less chance for human error.
• New platform support: Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008; VMware ESX Server 3.5; SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.6 and 5.1; Macintosh OS X 10.5 (Leopard); Windows CE 6.0 Thin Client.
• Interoperability with Symantec Ghost imaging.
• Automated, rip and replace blade server provisioning

Symantec Ghost Solution Suite is an imaging tool and Symantec's preferred offering for small businesses that require Windows endpoint management, while numerous large enterprises leverage Ghost for its imaging engine. The release of Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 reaffirms the product's reputation for imaging. Ghost Solution Suite provides imaging speed and flexibility, automated OS deployment and user migration. New Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 features are expected to include:

• DeployAnywhere hardware-independent imaging automation.
• Full-disk encryption support.
• Effortless physical to virtual, and virtual to physical image creation.
• Secure disk decommission for data wipe and protection (U.S. Department of Defense compliant)
  
  

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