3. MetChem Inc. is an agro-based chemical company in Doha. The company manufactures chemicals derived from agriculture products. Recently, the sales of company have marked a decline due to lack of demand in Europe. Further, the cost of transportation has increased because of rising fuel prices. To address the preceding challenges, the management of the company has decided to enhance the reach of the company in the European region. For this, the management has decided to open a new marketing and sales office in Bonn, Germany. Due to its location, the office will also provide access to cheap raw materials. Ryan, the CIO of the company, has been asked to setup the office for 70 staff members. Ryan decides to assign the task of installing and configuring desktops to Alex, a Desktop Administrator. The company has a Windows-based corporate network. Alex analyzed the requirements and identified the following considerations: The installation of desktops should be completed within two days. Company has purchased machines of various form factors, such as laptop and desktops, for the new office. As a result, the configuration of machines is not fixed. Alex needs to find ways to install the Windows operating system in multiple machines with minimal errors and user intervention. To meet the preceding requirements, Alex needs to automate the installation of the Windows operating system. What should Alex do to accomplish the task? Experiment To meet the preceding requirements, Alex needs to perform the following tasks: Identify the format of the image files and its structure. Identify the benefits of the format identified in the previous task. Identify the tools for performing image-based installation.

The format of the image files and its structure.

A file-based disk image format that contains compressed file to install operating systems

1. One image for many hardwere configurations
2. Multiple image in one file
3. Compression and single instancing
4. Offline servicing of the image file
5. Installation on partitions of any size
6. Modification of image files using APIs
7. Nondestructive deployments
8. Bootable image support for Windows PE

Wim file Structure contains up to six types of resources: Header, file resource, metadata resource,
lookup table, XML data, and Integrity table.


The benefits of the format identified in the previous task

WIM addresses many challenges experienced with other imageing format.

1. A single WIM file can address many hardware configuration. WIM does not require that the
   destination hardware match the source hardware.
2. WIM can store multiple images in a single file. This is useful because you can store images with and
   without core applicetion, in a single image file.


The tools for performing image-based installation.

1. Windows setup (setup.exe)
2. Answer file
3. Catalog

4. Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit
  . Windows System Image Manager
  . Windows Preinstallation Environment
  . ImageX
  . User State Migration Tool
  . Deployment Image Servicing and Management

5. Sysprep
6. Diskpart
7. Windows Deployment Services
8. Virtual Hard Disk