Scripted Installation (FAI) vs. System Imaging

[Michael Tautschnig]

> Hi,
> 
> this is not a development topic, but worth thinking about it.
> 
> If you look for pros/cons of using FAI (see http://www.zaik.uni-koeln.de/~paper/unzip.html?file=zaik2010-603.pdf,
> http://www.slideshare.net/henningsprang/automated-installations-and-infrastructure-management-with-fai-presentation),
> FAI is compared to do no automation at all. My customer is currently
> using system imaging and a think this is a quite widespread
> installation method (tools like: system imager, clonezilla, mkcdrec
> or mondo rescue). So what I need are good arguments for using FAI
> instead of system imaging.
> 
> To start with, here is what I think are good reasons for using FAI
> (Ok, it sounds a bit like an FAI evangelist and some arguments are
> used twice):
> - Documented installation (No "Golden Image")
>   Fully documented installation from scratch.
>   No undocumented image tweaks.
> - Reproducible installation (No "Nasty Tweaks")
>   Scripted installation procedure.
>   Automatically documented.
> - Tailored Installations (No "Unused Leaks")
>   Customize installation depending on software requirements.
>   Customize installation depending on hardware requirements.
> - Manageable Installations (No "Unknown Redo")
>   Control, compare and save your installation configurations.
>   Integrate with configuration management.
> - Secure Installations (No "Virus Reproduction")
>   No reproduction of security leaks.
>   Simple update and up to date installations.
> 

- A single configuration *for your entire network*. In one of my networks I'm
  running at least 14 different servers - that would require 14 different
  images.
- Softupdates: Changing the configuration does not require reinstallation.

And probably many many more.

Best,
Michael

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