<s>
A	O
boot	B-Operating_System
image	I-Operating_System
control	I-Operating_System
strategy	O
is	O
a	O
common	O
way	O
to	O
reduce	O
total	O
cost	O
of	O
ownership	O
in	O
organizations	O
with	O
large	O
numbers	O
of	O
similar	O
computers	O
being	O
used	O
by	O
users	O
with	O
common	O
needs	O
,	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
considered	O
part	O
of	O
enterprise	B-Architecture
application	I-Architecture
integration	I-Architecture
in	O
larger	O
shops	O
that	O
use	O
that	O
term	O
since	O
applications	O
are	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
boot	B-Operating_System
image	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
modify	O
the	O
boot	B-Operating_System
image	I-Operating_System
,	O
in	O
most	O
desktop	B-General_Concept
OS	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
includes	O
tools	O
for	O
boot	B-Operating_System
image	I-Operating_System
control	I-Operating_System
,	O
displacing	O
third-party	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
has	O
always	O
had	O
more	O
flexible	O
handling	O
of	O
boot	O
drives	O
,	O
simplifying	O
control	O
and	O
reducing	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
move	O
boot	B-Operating_System
images	I-Operating_System
around	O
between	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Increasingly	O
,	O
boot	B-Operating_System
image	I-Operating_System
control	I-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
network	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
function	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Very	O
often	O
a	O
large	O
computer	O
vendor	O
is	O
required	O
to	O
explain	O
in	O
a	O
bid	O
in	O
response	O
to	O
an	O
RFP	O
how	O
they	O
intend	O
to	O
simplify	O
the	O
purchaser	O
's	O
boot	B-Operating_System
image	I-Operating_System
control	I-Operating_System
problems	O
and	O
the	O
attendant	O
service	O
costs	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Organizations	O
that	O
do	O
not	O
closely	O
track	O
,	O
control	O
and	O
set	O
common	O
standards	O
for	O
,	O
acquisition	O
of	O
new	O
computer	O
hardware	O
,	O
typically	O
can	O
only	O
practice	O
a	O
thin	B-Device
client	I-Device
strategy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
departmental	B-Operating_System
boot	I-Operating_System
image	I-Operating_System
strategy	O
seems	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
most	O
flexible	O
,	O
the	O
complexity	O
of	O
creating	O
and	O
managing	O
several	O
large	O
boot	B-Operating_System
images	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
determining	O
when	O
a	O
department	O
needs	O
to	O
upgrade	O
its	O
applications	O
,	O
can	O
easily	O
outweigh	O
these	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
which	O
situation	O
thin	B-Device
clients	I-Device
may	O
become	O
the	O
only	O
practical	O
answer	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
organizations	O
use	O
thin	B-Device
clients	I-Device
for	O
applications	O
which	O
require	O
high	O
security	O
,	O
involve	O
unreliable	O
users	O
or	O
repurpose	O
older	O
machines	O
for	O
continued	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
much	O
simplifies	O
boot	B-Operating_System
image	I-Operating_System
control	I-Operating_System
by	O
facilitating	O
centralized	O
management	O
of	O
computers	O
,	O
and	O
has	O
many	O
advantages	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Thin	B-Device
clients	I-Device
:	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
organizations	O
try	O
to	O
gain	O
the	O
advantages	O
of	O
thin	B-Device
clients	I-Device
without	O
the	O
disadvantages	O
by	O
treating	O
many	O
very	O
standard	O
machines	O
as	O
if	O
they	O
were	O
terminals	O
,	O
but	O
with	O
very	O
much	O
greater	O
capabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Specify	O
the	O
computer	O
hardware	O
to	O
minimize	O
unneeded	O
machine	O
diversity	O
and	O
minimize	O
the	O
resultant	O
number	O
of	O
boot	B-Operating_System
images	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Organize	O
the	O
network	O
so	O
that	O
boot	B-Operating_System
images	I-Operating_System
can	O
be	O
efficiently	O
supported	O
and	O
swapped	O
,	O
independent	O
of	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ideally	O
,	O
backups	O
on	O
hand	O
of	O
the	O
boot	B-Operating_System
image	I-Operating_System
,	O
or	O
even	O
spare	O
identical	O
computers	O
that	O
can	O
quickly	O
be	O
booted	O
up	O
from	O
the	O
boot	O
device	O
in	O
question	O
to	O
determine	O
if	O
it	O
is	O
a	O
hard	O
disk	O
,	O
computer	O
or	O
software/image	O
problem	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ensure	O
computer	O
accessibility	O
features	O
are	O
on	O
every	O
departmental	B-Operating_System
boot	I-Operating_System
image	I-Operating_System
that	O
require	O
them	O
,	O
or	O
in	O
the	O
thin	B-Device
client	I-Device
hardware	O
and	O
software	O
itself	O
,	O
to	O
accommodate	O
these	O
users	O
in	O
a	O
manner	O
that	O
is	O
ubiquitous	O
and	O
cost	O
effective	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Install	O
thin	B-Device
clients	I-Device
on	O
all	O
off-spec	O
machines	O
to	O
eliminate	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
special	O
boot	B-Operating_System
images	I-Operating_System
for	O
them	O
,	O
and	O
subsequent	O
diagnostic	O
problems	O
and	O
data	O
risks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Desktop	O
computing	O
is	O
increasingly	O
relying	O
on	O
web	O
services	O
,	O
making	O
the	O
thin	B-Device
client	I-Device
approach	O
more	O
viable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Departmental	B-Operating_System
boot	I-Operating_System
images	I-Operating_System
may	O
remain	O
but	O
simply	O
instantiate	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
semantic	B-Application
service-oriented	I-Application
architecture	I-Application
,	O
especially	O
in	O
larger	O
organizations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
service	B-Application
component	I-Application
architecture	I-Application
would	O
further	O
simplify	O
the	O
implementation	O
of	O
control	O
mechanisms	O
,	O
especially	O
if	O
a	O
single	O
application	O
language	O
like	O
Java	B-Language
was	O
used	O
for	O
all	O
custom	O
applications	O
in	O
the	O
enterprise	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
importantly	O
,	O
shift	O
to	O
software	B-Architecture
as	I-Architecture
a	I-Architecture
service	I-Architecture
by	O
most	O
large	O
vendors	O
means	O
that	O
applications	O
are	O
not	O
tied	O
to	O
machines	O
,	O
so	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
variant	O
boot	B-Operating_System
images	I-Operating_System
required	O
(	O
with	O
the	O
applications	O
installed	O
)	O
is	O
reduced	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
open	O
configuration	O
technologies	O
such	O
as	O
Bitfrost	O
,	O
OpenID	O
and	O
even	O
XMPP	B-Protocol
would	O
also	O
simplify	O
configuration	O
of	O
boot	B-Operating_System
images	I-Operating_System
,	O
as	O
authentication	O
would	O
no	O
longer	O
be	O
dealt	O
with	O
on	O
the	O
desktop/laptop	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Large	O
system	O
vendors	O
increasingly	O
provide	O
DVDs	O
with	O
the	O
boot	B-Operating_System
image	I-Operating_System
standard	O
for	O
the	O
machine	O
as	O
shipped	O
to	O
the	O
customer	O
,	O
which	O
usually	O
includes	O
tools	O
to	O
diagnose	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
machine	O
and	O
download	O
drivers	O
.	O
</s>
