I'm looking for some best practices when implementing Multcast
ASR. What kind of configurations should i use, including client
data rate, server data rate, multicast address, etc.
i'm currently running Multicast ASR on a 10/100 internal
192.168.x.x network via an Asante switch, so i pretty much have
full control over the setup. i'm using Netboot and Netrestore to
do the ASRing, but have found it really difficult to get bandwidth
that's both fast and reliable (i.e. little packet loss).
i've got a 10GB image and am doing anywhere from 3-20 machines per
week (8-10 max multicast asr at any one time). right now it takes
about 35-40 mins to image one or many machines. i'd like to cut
that down to < 30mins.
I hate getting the following answer, but "it depends". It depends on
your network infrastructure.
Unfortunately, right now, it seems to be a process of trial and error:
Start out with a large data rate, which will probably result in failure.
Try a lower data rate, which might succeed.
Try rate in between the known bad and the known good, till you figure
out
just how much you can get away with before the process fails.
You'd think that once you figure out the right speed, you *should* be
able to use
that data rate for as many asr multicast clients as you want.
However, keep in mind that you also need to take into consideration
the network load
that your clients make on the network, if your clients are netbooting
in order to run
NetRestore or just Terminal.
If you boot your clients via DVD or external firewire or extra
internal drive partition,
you don't have that extra netboot traffic.
You might want to pull your asr server and your asr client onto a
private network
of just the server and the client (and maybe the switch you use),
and figure out what your maximum rate would be, both with the client
booted off of
netboot, and with the client booted off of something local (DVD, 2nd
partition, external FW, etc)
Arek Dreyer - Dreyer Network Consultants, Inc
Chicago-based 773-251-8931 email@hidden
Apple Certified Trainer, Apple Certified System Administrator
