Big Bang's Universal Imaging Utility (UIU) is not imaging software in and of itself; rather it works in concert with existing imaging platforms (such as Symantec Ghost, Altiris, ZenWorks, etc.) and allows a single image created by those platforms to be deployed to machines with differing hardware makeups; such as Dell, IBM, HP, etc. The platform runs on Windows 2000/XP, and the vendor states that it will work with any Windows imaging software application that works correctly with Sysprep. Though not yet supported, the vendor also states that their continued development of the product includes Windows 64-bit and Windows Vista compatibility efforts.

To use UIU, the client would install it on the Windows 2000/XP machine that will serve as the base machine for the creation of the original image. This machine should be setup according to the vendor's guidelines, after which a base image is captured and then the utility is run. The computer is then rebooted in DOS mode and the client's imaging application is used to create the resulting image that will be deployed to the target machines. According to the vendor, you can then deploy that single image--to multiple hardware configurations--just as you always have. The UIU process will add approximately 300 MB to the created image and one or two minutes to the deployment times.

The basic idea behind UIU is to reset the original machine to a state that is similar to the initial Windows O/S install disks; i.e., it resets the Windows installation on the host machine to a state that allows for detection of differing hardware platforms and loading of appropriate drivers when the image created from it is deployed to a new PC. As such, the image includes a "regularly updated" driver database from the vendor that is used during deployment; and additionally MS Sysprep is automatically launched by UIU to detect the hardware components on the target machine. The vendor notes that Sysprep will additionally change the SID on the recipient PC. The creation of necessary Sysprep files is handled automatically by UIU.

The vendor does note some limitations of the product in their literature: Only Windows 2000/XP is currently supported (not 2000 Server or Server 2003); RAID-based systems are not supported; images created on ACPI compliant systems are not compatible with non-ACPI compliant systems; and deployments FROM SCSI-based systems may not work (though deployments TO non-RAID SCSI systems are supported). Also, the driver database does not currently include support for external or USB devices (printers, scanners, etc.).

UIU is available now. Licensing is per-seat and is based on the number of computers that receive an image that was prepared with the UIU. Pricing starts at $20.14 per-seat for up to 99 computers and goes down to $9.66 for 5,000 or more licenses.

Visit the UIU Web site for further information.