Select the Device Driver Management Strategy

The following are the high-level strategies for performing device driver management:

· Include all device drivers. This is the default behavior for LTI and ZTI deployments. In this strategy, all the drivers are deployed to the target computer. Then, Windows PE and the target operating system use Plug-and-Play IDs to identify the device drivers needed for the devices on the target computers.

· Include only the device drivers specifically required for the target computer. In this strategy, only the device drivers specific to the target computer are deployed to the target computer. This requires that you configure the ZTI and LTI process to control which device drivers are deployed to the target computer.

Table 170 lists the advantages and disadvantages of these device driver management strategies.

Table 170. Advantages and Disadvantages of Device Driver Management Strategies

Strategy	Advantages	Disadvantages
Include all device drivers	· Requires less initial time and effort to identify the appropriate drivers. · All mass storage drivers for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are included. · Works well when there are fewer device drivers to manage.	· Images are larger. · Images require more frequent version updates. · Ongoing management of device drivers in the image requires more effort, because there are more drivers in the image. · Does not work well if there are a large number of device drivers to manage.
Include only the device drivers specifically required for the target computer	· Ongoing management of device drivers in the image requires less effort, because there are fewer drivers in the image. · Images are smaller. · Images require less frequent version updates. · Works well when there is a large number of device drivers to manage.	· Requires more initial time and effort to identify the appropriate drivers. · Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 images should still include all mass storage drivers. · Can introduce unnecessary management overhead when there are fewer device drivers to manage.

Strategy

Advantages

Disadvantages

Include all device drivers

· Requires less initial time and effort to identify the appropriate drivers.

· All mass storage drivers for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are included.

· Works well when there are fewer device drivers to manage.

· Images are larger.

· Images require more frequent version updates.

· Ongoing management of device drivers in the image requires more effort, because there are more drivers in the image.

· Does not work well if there are a large number of device drivers to manage.

Include only the device drivers specifically required for the target computer

· Ongoing management of device drivers in the image requires less effort, because there are fewer drivers in the image.

· Images are smaller.

· Images require less frequent version updates.

· Works well when there is a large number of device drivers to manage.

· Requires more initial time and effort to identify the appropriate drivers.

· Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 images should still include all mass storage drivers.

· Can introduce unnecessary management overhead when there are fewer device drivers to manage.

Either of these strategies can cause problems if taken to the extreme. The “Include all device drivers” strategy might cause problems when trying to manage tens of thousands of device drivers because of the larger download sizes and a higher probability of detecting the wrong device drivers. A complex management structure used in the “Include only the device drivers specifically required for the target computer” strategy might be too complex for managing small environments with only two or three different types of computers and cause you to spend a lot of unnecessary time up front.

In most instances, select a device driver management strategy that is a hybrid of these strategies and best fits your organization.

Related Topics

Managing Device Drivers