[OPLINTECH] Deep Freeze

[Chad Neeper]

One particular difference between the two that I found very notable 
recently was how the changes are committed permanently to disk in SS 
versus DF. I've been using DF for years, but have been keeping an eye on 
SS as it has improved over the versions. I was recently prepared to take 
another look at the latest version of SS, but happened to visit a 
library that already had it installed and running...saving me the eval 
time. We were trying to do a large number of workstation updates that 
required numerous reboots. This quickly became VERY tedious with SS 
because every time the workstation was rebooted, the changes had to be 
committed to disk, which greatly increase the reboot cycle. If you're 
just rebooting once, then this is more convenient than the DF method. 
More than one reboot, however, and it becomes very considerably 
worse/slower than the DF method.

In my own case, since time directly equals cost for my libraries, DF 
pays for itself rather quickly in the time savings alone:  When I visit 
a workstation, it usually involves numerous reboots.

Anecdotally, I also feel more comfortable with the DF method over the SS 
method for locking the workstation hard drives against changes. It 
appears SS can be unlocked by simply logging in as an administrative 
user. Having apparently user-level disk protection like this seems more 
vulnerable to me. DF requires a switch to be set ("Frozen" / "Not 
Frozen") and then a full reboot to take effect. If a machine is 
"Frozen", it doesn't care if you are an admin or a restricted patron 
user, workstation changes simply will not stick past a reboot. Seems 
like less attack surface to me, with the disk protection at a much more 
basic/fundamental level.

Since it's free, I'll probably take another look at SS in a more 
controlled environment to see if I can work around/with the hard drive 
protection features, but I don't expect that it will compare favorably 
enough yet to make me switch.

My 2 cents.

Chad


Ps. Full discloser:  I DO make a small profit in the sale of DF. 
However, the profit I make on software isn't enough to cover my time and 
hassle in quoting/selling it. I waste more time than I make up for in 
profits. If I can find an open source or otherwise free product that 
does as good a job, I'll drop DF in a heartbeat.

-----------------------
Chad Neeper
Senior Systems Engineer

Level 9 Networks
740-548-8070 (voice)
866-214-6607 (fax)

--   Full LAN/WAN consulting services   --
-- Specialized in libraries and schools --



Dan Will wrote:
> Thank you to those of you who have responded! I guess I'll have to look into
> it (if for nothing else, it'll be for my own education) I'm fairly sure that
> Deep Freeze will not be in the budget (not in the next 2 years anyway). But
> it's nice to know what's out there.
> TA
> Dan
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: oplintech-bounces at oplin.org [mailto:oplintech-bounces at oplin.org] On
> Behalf Of Dan Will
> Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 8:12 AM
> To: montgodo at oplin.org; OPLINTECH at oplin.org
> Subject: Re: [OPLINTECH] Deep Freeze
>
> I'm not familiar with Deep Freeze (I've heard of it but never used it). We
> use Windows SteadyState and have great success with it. I personally can't
> see paying for something when there is a free solution. So.... I have a
> question (and I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm asking a serious question)..
> What makes Deep Freeze so good that it's worth the money? 
>
> Dan Will
> Technology Supervisor
> Meigs County District Public Library
> willda at oplin.org
> 740.992.5813
> 740.992.6140 (fax)
>
> The difference between fiction and reality?
> Fiction has to make sense.
> Tom Clancy
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: oplintech-bounces at oplin.org [mailto:oplintech-bounces at oplin.org] On
> Behalf Of montgodo at oplin.org
> Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 8:47 PM
> To: OPLINTECH at oplin.org
> Subject: [OPLINTECH] Deep Freeze
>
>
> We have used Deep Freeze for several years.
> It has done a great job for us and i highly
> recommend it. Also Faronics product Anti exe
> is great to.
>
> Douglas Montgomery
> Network Administrator
> Preble County District Library
> 450 South Barron Eaton, Ohio 45320
> 937-456-5210
> montgodo at oplin.org
>
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