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Specops Deploy 3.1
by Bob Kelly

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Installation time will occur when the target system refreshes its group policy information-- this means that the installation is not instant, but that it will happen within 2 hours of the specified time (which is as long as any other Group Policy update would take). By default policy updates are set to 90 minutes, plus a random interval between 0 and 30 minutes. However, you can adjust this default or event force an update using GPUPDATE.EXE (or “SECEDIT /Refreshpolicy machine_policy” on Windows 2000) and Specops Deploy take action right away.

There are configurable options for how reboots should be handled and you can allow the deployment to be postponed by the user if you wish-- displaying an optional pop-up and display message. For legacy setups the user interface is hidden by default, but you can optionally have the automation displayed. Also added in this release is HTTP support for BITS downloads (a very nice feature for those working with slow links).

I know I said I would focus on the new stuff here, and there is not much new by way of reporting features, but I just have to mention here now great the real-time reporting is. Knowing Group Policy deployment alone provides only local event log entries that you must dig through to get any answers- stepping up to what is offered by Specops could not be a better experience. Check out the coverage of the reporting features in the full 3.0 review or (better) download the trial version and see it in action for yourself.

Closing

Lots of new stuff here for a minor point release, but there you have it: significant new features added to an already impressive deployment solution. How much? Pricing is published on the Specops website: it is very competitive at just under $11 per seat for a 500 node network. With a minimal client footprint, Specops manages to enhance Windows own Group Policy deployment capabilities to that of a worthy competitor to other much more complex and expensive solutions. If you use Group Policy today- do yourself a favor and take a half hour to see how much better things can be: http://www.specopssoft.com/products/specopsdeploy

02/19/06
Bob Kelly, AppDeploySM

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