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Image installation mechanisms
Technology is available from Microsoft and from external vendors to create an installable image of a preconfigured Windows XP system. The image can be installed on compatible hardware, creating a clone of the original system including any installed applications.
There are some limitations to this - the two PCs must use the same Windows Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), and the applications must not configure themselves with hardware-dependent information like the CPU identifier or the network MAC address. Websphere Commerce Sales Center has no such dependency on hardware identity.
Load of the initial image is typically done using the Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE), an Intel-initiated specification for booting a PC class device over a local area network. PXE is part of a standard called Wired for Management (WfM) that in turn is incorporated into the PC98 specification, and is enabled in the network BIOS for virtually all corporate PCs manufactured since 1998. PXE also requires a server implementing DHCP and TFTP protocols; this is provided by the Microsoft or external vendor image cloning solution.
After installing Windows XP on the prototype client, but before capturing the image to clone, additional software must be installed that is sufficient to enable the post-deployment technology that you intend to use. Each of the post deployment provisioning mechanisms indicates in its Prerequisites section which additional software must be loaded onto a prototype client in the initial client image.
Related concepts
Deploy customizations to the IBM Sales Center
Post deployment provisioning mechanisms
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