Roaming profiles: please share your experience

Hi all,

Sorry if this is the wrong newsgroup to ask.

I am planning to deploy roaming profiles in our LAN for approx. 50 users.
The network is 100mbps. The hardware where all profiles planned to be stored
is Xeon 2x3.2Ghz, 1GB RAM, SCSI 15k rpm, 100MB NIC. I have read about tips
and tricks concerning roaming profiles (what to store and what to do to make
things work faster) but I really appreciate if you could share your
experience in case you have roaming profiles implemented. The question is:
how fast it is, especially during login/logout time? I checked current
network utilization and it is around 2-5mbps so I think there is enough
space. I understand that the highest load will take place during the time
user logs in first time, but how fast it is in general when 20-40 users
simultaneously log out? Of course it depends on amount of information to
synchronize but what are your personal observations?

Thank you very much in advance!

Personal experience...

Use roaming profiles only if there is an actual benefit to users. Otherwise,
don't.

Use roaming profiles only if all PCs use the same (exact same) OS and set of
applications.

Use roaming profiles only if all applications on all PCs are loaded on the
same lettered hard drive (not when some PC have an app loaded on C while
others have the same app loaded on D).

Use roaming profiles only if you lock down PCs to prevent users from using
their own photos and such as their windows background.

Use roaming profiles only if some users do not use things like iPOD
connections, Palm Pilot or PDA device "syncing". If everybody uses all the
exact same devices, no problem.

Use roaming profiles only if everyone accesses their mail from the same
server using the same mail application.

Use roaming profiles only if you are prepared to deal with backup/restore of
profiles on a regular bases. (users will become accustomed to always having
"their" icons to click on and will be lost without them)

As for... What is a user benefit? Example: If users often have need to log
onto workstations other than their own and have access to their personally
configured mapped drives, and desktop icons. And their personally configured
mail (as in Outlook server and password config.).

Don't fall into the trap of thinking roaming is always better just because
you can afford the bandwidth. And... yes, you will notice substantial "slow
downs" during logon and logoff times it everybody comes and goes as the
exact same time. Most times this is not an issue due to somewhat staggered
logon/logoff times (even by a minute or so).

Do not think from the above statements that I am against roaming profiles. I
worked in an organization using roaming profiles where we had a 2000+
PC/User base, and it was great. But I need to tell you that every PC was
cloned, exactly like every other PC. Under these conditions, it's great. As
soon as you deviate from the above, the pittfalls start to outweigh the
advantages.

-Frank

"Roman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:39A8D2A2-0BEB-4739-B163-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi all,
>
> Sorry if this is the wrong newsgroup to ask.
>
> I am planning to deploy roaming profiles in our LAN for approx. 50 users.
> The network is 100mbps. The hardware where all profiles planned to be
> stored
> is Xeon 2x3.2Ghz, 1GB RAM, SCSI 15k rpm, 100MB NIC. I have read about tips
> and tricks concerning roaming profiles (what to store and what to do to
> make
> things work faster) but I really appreciate if you could share your
> experience in case you have roaming profiles implemented. The question is:
> how fast it is, especially during login/logout time? I checked current
> network utilization and it is around 2-5mbps so I think there is enough
> space. I understand that the highest load will take place during the time
> user logs in first time, but how fast it is in general when 20-40 users
> simultaneously log out? Of course it depends on amount of information to
> synchronize but what are your personal observations?
>
> Thank you very much in advance!

By the way(is not only for roaming prof), when you are talking that you
have a 100mb/s in your net,
1- the all your network is switched? or you have hubs too?
2-you test the cables, if they let more then 25mb/s?
3-you have concated switches?
4-your switch has a gb link, but is in use by the firewall that its
connected with the internet on a 4mb link? instead be connected in your
server.

Roman wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Sorry if this is the wrong newsgroup to ask.
>
> I am planning to deploy roaming profiles in our LAN for approx. 50 users.
> The network is 100mbps. The hardware where all profiles planned to be stored
> is Xeon 2x3.2Ghz, 1GB RAM, SCSI 15k rpm, 100MB NIC. I have read about tips
> and tricks concerning roaming profiles (what to store and what to do to make
> things work faster) but I really appreciate if you could share your
> experience in case you have roaming profiles implemented. The question is:
> how fast it is, especially during login/logout time? I checked current
> network utilization and it is around 2-5mbps so I think there is enough
> space. I understand that the highest load will take place during the time
> user logs in first time, but how fast it is in general when 20-40 users
> simultaneously log out? Of course it depends on amount of information to
> synchronize but what are your personal observations?
>
> Thank you very much in advance!

Hi Frank,

Thank you very much! I think that we are fully compatible. We all use the
same hardware and software (ghost-ed). We also use MS Exchange so I am not
concerned about email profiles cause all messages are stored in Exchange.
What I am concerned of is My Documents, Desktop and Outlook PST files - all
my users use laptops and travel a lot and I would like to provide them with
kind of backup facility, so even in case of hardware failure (laptop failure)
we will be able to recover the documents. Most probably I will exclude
everything from being synchronized except My Documents and Desktop, and PST
files as well. They also don't log onto workstations other than their own -
so my main idea of roaming profiles is to have a backup instance only.

Thanks a lot for your contribution!

"Frankster" wrote:

> Personal experience...
>
> Use roaming profiles only if there is an actual benefit to users. Otherwise,
> don't.
>
> Use roaming profiles only if all PCs use the same (exact same) OS and set of
> applications.
>
> Use roaming profiles only if all applications on all PCs are loaded on the
> same lettered hard drive (not when some PC have an app loaded on C while
> others have the same app loaded on D).
>
> Use roaming profiles only if you lock down PCs to prevent users from using
> their own photos and such as their windows background.
>
> Use roaming profiles only if some users do not use things like iPOD
> connections, Palm Pilot or PDA device "syncing". If everybody uses all the
> exact same devices, no problem.
>
> Use roaming profiles only if everyone accesses their mail from the same
> server using the same mail application.
>
> Use roaming profiles only if you are prepared to deal with backup/restore of
> profiles on a regular bases. (users will become accustomed to always having
> "their" icons to click on and will be lost without them)
>
> As for... What is a user benefit? Example: If users often have need to log
> onto workstations other than their own and have access to their personally
> configured mapped drives, and desktop icons. And their personally configured
> mail (as in Outlook server and password config.).
>
> Don't fall into the trap of thinking roaming is always better just because
> you can afford the bandwidth. And... yes, you will notice substantial "slow
> downs" during logon and logoff times it everybody comes and goes as the
> exact same time. Most times this is not an issue due to somewhat staggered
> logon/logoff times (even by a minute or so).
>
> Do not think from the above statements that I am against roaming profiles. I
> worked in an organization using roaming profiles where we had a 2000+
> PC/User base, and it was great. But I need to tell you that every PC was
> cloned, exactly like every other PC. Under these conditions, it's great. As
> soon as you deviate from the above, the pittfalls start to outweigh the
> advantages.
>
> -Frank
>
> "Roman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:39A8D2A2-0BEB-4739-B163-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Hi all,
> >
> > Sorry if this is the wrong newsgroup to ask.
> >
> > I am planning to deploy roaming profiles in our LAN for approx. 50 users.
> > The network is 100mbps. The hardware where all profiles planned to be
> > stored
> > is Xeon 2x3.2Ghz, 1GB RAM, SCSI 15k rpm, 100MB NIC. I have read about tips
> > and tricks concerning roaming profiles (what to store and what to do to
> > make
> > things work faster) but I really appreciate if you could share your
> > experience in case you have roaming profiles implemented. The question is:
> > how fast it is, especially during login/logout time? I checked current
> > network utilization and it is around 2-5mbps so I think there is enough
> > space. I understand that the highest load will take place during the time
> > user logs in first time, but how fast it is in general when 20-40 users
> > simultaneously log out? Of course it depends on amount of information to
> > synchronize but what are your personal observations?
> >
> > Thank you very much in advance!
>
>
>

Hello,

1/3. Yes, my whole network is switched (by Nortel Networks), we don't use
hubs. We have two 48x 10/100mbps Baystack switches in one stack with VLANs
configured.
2. I think we did. In the past I have seen 80mbps of network throughput
during nightly backups.
4. We don't have GB links on switches, although most servers do have GB NICs.

Thank you.

"(E-Mail Removed)" wrote:

> By the way(is not only for roaming prof), when you are talking that you
> have a 100mb/s in your net,
> 1- the all your network is switched? or you have hubs too?
> 2-you test the cables, if they let more then 25mb/s?
> 3-you have concated switches?
> 4-your switch has a gb link, but is in use by the firewall that its
> connected with the internet on a 4mb link? instead be connected in your
> server.
>
> Roman wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > Sorry if this is the wrong newsgroup to ask.
> >
> > I am planning to deploy roaming profiles in our LAN for approx. 50 users.
> > The network is 100mbps. The hardware where all profiles planned to be stored
> > is Xeon 2x3.2Ghz, 1GB RAM, SCSI 15k rpm, 100MB NIC. I have read about tips
> > and tricks concerning roaming profiles (what to store and what to do to make
> > things work faster) but I really appreciate if you could share your
> > experience in case you have roaming profiles implemented. The question is:
> > how fast it is, especially during login/logout time? I checked current
> > network utilization and it is around 2-5mbps so I think there is enough
> > space. I understand that the highest load will take place during the time
> > user logs in first time, but how fast it is in general when 20-40 users
> > simultaneously log out? Of course it depends on amount of information to
> > synchronize but what are your personal observations?
> >
> > Thank you very much in advance!
>
>

In news:F1F0EC53-9BF8-4418-8DC1-(E-Mail Removed),
Roman <(E-Mail Removed)> stated, which I commented on below:
> Hi Frank,
>
> Thank you very much! I think that we are fully compatible. We all
> use the same hardware and software (ghost-ed).
<snipped>

Do you also use Sysprep to ensure all ghosted workstations have a unique
SID?

--
Ace
Innovative IT Concepts, Inc (IITCI)
Willow Grove, PA

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
confers no rights.

Ace Fekay, MCSE 2003 & 2000, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSE+I, MCT, MVP
Microsoft MVP - Directory Services
Microsoft Certified Trainer

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Infinite Diversities in Infinite Combinations
Assimilation Imminent. Resistance is Futile
"Very funny Scotty. Now, beam down my clothes."

The only constant in life is change...

Roman,

Sounds like you have taken the right steps to prepare for moving over
to a roaming profile environment however I thought I would mention some
suggestions for you. When trying to manage the My Documents and other
critical data within the profile you might want to consider looking at
a seperate solution outside of what you have natively with MS profiles.
My experience has always been than inevitably those profiles will grow
large in size and cause extended logon times. I have run into
situations also where an Office upgrade has corrupted the profiles.
Check out Desktop Authority from Scriptlogic. This applicatioin will
allow you to configure true folder redirection, and manage all aspects
of the user environment including your Exchange profiles. You can do
this without having to implement roaming profiles. You can also simply
configure folder redirection through group policy without having to
sync data across your network through roaming profiles. I would
strongly suggest these alternatives before you decide to make the
change.

Matt

Roman wrote:
> Hi Frank,
>
> Thank you very much! I think that we are fully compatible. We all use the
> same hardware and software (ghost-ed). We also use MS Exchange so I am not
> concerned about email profiles cause all messages are stored in Exchange.
> What I am concerned of is My Documents, Desktop and Outlook PST files - all
> my users use laptops and travel a lot and I would like to provide them with
> kind of backup facility, so even in case of hardware failure (laptop failure)
> we will be able to recover the documents. Most probably I will exclude
> everything from being synchronized except My Documents and Desktop, and PST
> files as well. They also don't log onto workstations other than their own -
> so my main idea of roaming profiles is to have a backup instance only.
>
> Thanks a lot for your contribution!
>
> "Frankster" wrote:
>
> > Personal experience...
> >
> > Use roaming profiles only if there is an actual benefit to users. Otherwise,
> > don't.
> >
> > Use roaming profiles only if all PCs use the same (exact same) OS and set of
> > applications.
> >
> > Use roaming profiles only if all applications on all PCs are loaded on the
> > same lettered hard drive (not when some PC have an app loaded on C while
> > others have the same app loaded on D).
> >
> > Use roaming profiles only if you lock down PCs to prevent users from using
> > their own photos and such as their windows background.
> >
> > Use roaming profiles only if some users do not use things like iPOD
> > connections, Palm Pilot or PDA device "syncing". If everybody uses all the
> > exact same devices, no problem.
> >
> > Use roaming profiles only if everyone accesses their mail from the same
> > server using the same mail application.
> >
> > Use roaming profiles only if you are prepared to deal with backup/restore of
> > profiles on a regular bases. (users will become accustomed to always having
> > "their" icons to click on and will be lost without them)
> >
> > As for... What is a user benefit? Example: If users often have need to log
> > onto workstations other than their own and have access to their personally
> > configured mapped drives, and desktop icons. And their personally configured
> > mail (as in Outlook server and password config.).
> >
> > Don't fall into the trap of thinking roaming is always better just because
> > you can afford the bandwidth. And... yes, you will notice substantial "slow
> > downs" during logon and logoff times it everybody comes and goes as the
> > exact same time. Most times this is not an issue due to somewhat staggered
> > logon/logoff times (even by a minute or so).
> >
> > Do not think from the above statements that I am against roaming profiles. I
> > worked in an organization using roaming profiles where we had a 2000+
> > PC/User base, and it was great. But I need to tell you that every PC was
> > cloned, exactly like every other PC. Under these conditions, it's great. As
> > soon as you deviate from the above, the pittfalls start to outweigh the
> > advantages.
> >
> > -Frank
> >
> > "Roman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:39A8D2A2-0BEB-4739-B163-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > Sorry if this is the wrong newsgroup to ask.
> > >
> > > I am planning to deploy roaming profiles in our LAN for approx. 50 users.
> > > The network is 100mbps. The hardware where all profiles planned to be
> > > stored
> > > is Xeon 2x3.2Ghz, 1GB RAM, SCSI 15k rpm, 100MB NIC. I have read about tips
> > > and tricks concerning roaming profiles (what to store and what to do to
> > > make
> > > things work faster) but I really appreciate if you could share your
> > > experience in case you have roaming profiles implemented. The question is:
> > > how fast it is, especially during login/logout time? I checked current
> > > network utilization and it is around 2-5mbps so I think there is enough
> > > space. I understand that the highest load will take place during the time
> > > user logs in first time, but how fast it is in general when 20-40 users
> > > simultaneously log out? Of course it depends on amount of information to
> > > synchronize but what are your personal observations?
> > >
> > > Thank you very much in advance!
> >
> >
> >

Thank you very much Matt!

I will check Desktop Authority, however (according to Desktop Authority
Features and Benefits) I think the same (mostly the same) could be done with
Group Policy?

What do you mean by folder redirection? Do you mean some folders will be
stored on remote server? What about local copies?

Thanks.

"mfarr" wrote:

> Roman,
>
> Sounds like you have taken the right steps to prepare for moving over
> to a roaming profile environment however I thought I would mention some
> suggestions for you. When trying to manage the My Documents and other
> critical data within the profile you might want to consider looking at
> a seperate solution outside of what you have natively with MS profiles.
> My experience has always been than inevitably those profiles will grow
> large in size and cause extended logon times. I have run into
> situations also where an Office upgrade has corrupted the profiles.
> Check out Desktop Authority from Scriptlogic. This applicatioin will
> allow you to configure true folder redirection, and manage all aspects
> of the user environment including your Exchange profiles. You can do
> this without having to implement roaming profiles. You can also simply
> configure folder redirection through group policy without having to
> sync data across your network through roaming profiles. I would
> strongly suggest these alternatives before you decide to make the
> change.
>
> Matt
>
> Roman wrote:
> > Hi Frank,
> >
> > Thank you very much! I think that we are fully compatible. We all use the
> > same hardware and software (ghost-ed). We also use MS Exchange so I am not
> > concerned about email profiles cause all messages are stored in Exchange.
> > What I am concerned of is My Documents, Desktop and Outlook PST files - all
> > my users use laptops and travel a lot and I would like to provide them with
> > kind of backup facility, so even in case of hardware failure (laptop failure)
> > we will be able to recover the documents. Most probably I will exclude
> > everything from being synchronized except My Documents and Desktop, and PST
> > files as well. They also don't log onto workstations other than their own -
> > so my main idea of roaming profiles is to have a backup instance only.
> >
> > Thanks a lot for your contribution!
> >
> > "Frankster" wrote:
> >
> > > Personal experience...
> > >
> > > Use roaming profiles only if there is an actual benefit to users. Otherwise,
> > > don't.
> > >
> > > Use roaming profiles only if all PCs use the same (exact same) OS and set of
> > > applications.
> > >
> > > Use roaming profiles only if all applications on all PCs are loaded on the
> > > same lettered hard drive (not when some PC have an app loaded on C while
> > > others have the same app loaded on D).
> > >
> > > Use roaming profiles only if you lock down PCs to prevent users from using
> > > their own photos and such as their windows background.
> > >
> > > Use roaming profiles only if some users do not use things like iPOD
> > > connections, Palm Pilot or PDA device "syncing". If everybody uses all the
> > > exact same devices, no problem.
> > >
> > > Use roaming profiles only if everyone accesses their mail from the same
> > > server using the same mail application.
> > >
> > > Use roaming profiles only if you are prepared to deal with backup/restore of
> > > profiles on a regular bases. (users will become accustomed to always having
> > > "their" icons to click on and will be lost without them)
> > >
> > > As for... What is a user benefit? Example: If users often have need to log
> > > onto workstations other than their own and have access to their personally
> > > configured mapped drives, and desktop icons. And their personally configured
> > > mail (as in Outlook server and password config.).
> > >
> > > Don't fall into the trap of thinking roaming is always better just because
> > > you can afford the bandwidth. And... yes, you will notice substantial "slow
> > > downs" during logon and logoff times it everybody comes and goes as the
> > > exact same time. Most times this is not an issue due to somewhat staggered
> > > logon/logoff times (even by a minute or so).
> > >
> > > Do not think from the above statements that I am against roaming profiles. I
> > > worked in an organization using roaming profiles where we had a 2000+
> > > PC/User base, and it was great. But I need to tell you that every PC was
> > > cloned, exactly like every other PC. Under these conditions, it's great. As
> > > soon as you deviate from the above, the pittfalls start to outweigh the
> > > advantages.
> > >
> > > -Frank
> > >
> > > "Roman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > > news:39A8D2A2-0BEB-4739-B163-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > > Hi all,
> > > >
> > > > Sorry if this is the wrong newsgroup to ask.
> > > >
> > > > I am planning to deploy roaming profiles in our LAN for approx. 50 users.
> > > > The network is 100mbps. The hardware where all profiles planned to be
> > > > stored
> > > > is Xeon 2x3.2Ghz, 1GB RAM, SCSI 15k rpm, 100MB NIC. I have read about tips
> > > > and tricks concerning roaming profiles (what to store and what to do to
> > > > make
> > > > things work faster) but I really appreciate if you could share your
> > > > experience in case you have roaming profiles implemented. The question is:
> > > > how fast it is, especially during login/logout time? I checked current
> > > > network utilization and it is around 2-5mbps so I think there is enough
> > > > space. I understand that the highest load will take place during the time
> > > > user logs in first time, but how fast it is in general when 20-40 users
> > > > simultaneously log out? Of course it depends on amount of information to
> > > > synchronize but what are your personal observations?
> > > >
> > > > Thank you very much in advance!
> > >
> > >
> > >
>
>

Hey Roman, there is no doubt most everyday configurations for your
desktops can be done with Group Policy however the way you can manage
and apply these settings can be very cumbersome within GP. Desktop
Authority has technology that goes above and beyond what you have
natively and can greatly increase productivity and the time it takes to
manage your desktops. In fact, Desktop Authority actually gives you the
capability of importing ADM files and applying them using Desktop
Authority. This gives you the best of both worlds in my opinion when
working with GPOs.

Folder Redirection will give you the ability to pick and choose what
profile data you want stored on the network and keep the data there so
it can properly be backed up and available at all times for your users.
Only when your users access the data will it be pulled across the
network as oppossed to a roaming profile that will sync unecessary data
at logon and logoff. Local copies on the desktop don't exist, so if you
have desktop hardware failure, you simply put a new machine in place,
your users log in, and all their settings and data will be there. I
wish I would have know about Desktop Authority many years ago because
it makes desktop management and user management a snap. Demo it if you
can, I really think you will like it if you need a roaming type
environment or just an efficient, better way of managing your network.

Matt



Roman wrote:
> Thank you very much Matt!
>
> I will check Desktop Authority, however (according to Desktop Authority
> Features and Benefits) I think the same (mostly the same) could be done with
> Group Policy?
>
> What do you mean by folder redirection? Do you mean some folders will be
> stored on remote server? What about local copies?
>
> Thanks.
>
> "mfarr" wrote:
>
> > Roman,
> >
> > Sounds like you have taken the right steps to prepare for moving over
> > to a roaming profile environment however I thought I would mention some
> > suggestions for you. When trying to manage the My Documents and other
> > critical data within the profile you might want to consider looking at
> > a seperate solution outside of what you have natively with MS profiles.
> > My experience has always been than inevitably those profiles will grow
> > large in size and cause extended logon times. I have run into
> > situations also where an Office upgrade has corrupted the profiles.
> > Check out Desktop Authority from Scriptlogic. This applicatioin will
> > allow you to configure true folder redirection, and manage all aspects
> > of the user environment including your Exchange profiles. You can do
> > this without having to implement roaming profiles. You can also simply
> > configure folder redirection through group policy without having to
> > sync data across your network through roaming profiles. I would
> > strongly suggest these alternatives before you decide to make the
> > change.
> >
> > Matt
> >
> > Roman wrote:
> > > Hi Frank,
> > >
> > > Thank you very much! I think that we are fully compatible. We all use the
> > > same hardware and software (ghost-ed). We also use MS Exchange so I am not
> > > concerned about email profiles cause all messages are stored in Exchange.
> > > What I am concerned of is My Documents, Desktop and Outlook PST files - all
> > > my users use laptops and travel a lot and I would like to provide them with
> > > kind of backup facility, so even in case of hardware failure (laptop failure)
> > > we will be able to recover the documents. Most probably I will exclude
> > > everything from being synchronized except My Documents and Desktop, and PST
> > > files as well. They also don't log onto workstations other than their own -
> > > so my main idea of roaming profiles is to have a backup instance only.
> > >
> > > Thanks a lot for your contribution!
> > >
> > > "Frankster" wrote:
> > >
> > > > Personal experience...
> > > >
> > > > Use roaming profiles only if there is an actual benefit to users. Otherwise,
> > > > don't.
> > > >
> > > > Use roaming profiles only if all PCs use the same (exact same) OS and set of
> > > > applications.
> > > >
> > > > Use roaming profiles only if all applications on all PCs are loaded on the
> > > > same lettered hard drive (not when some PC have an app loaded on C while
> > > > others have the same app loaded on D).
> > > >
> > > > Use roaming profiles only if you lock down PCs to prevent users from using
> > > > their own photos and such as their windows background.
> > > >
> > > > Use roaming profiles only if some users do not use things like iPOD
> > > > connections, Palm Pilot or PDA device "syncing". If everybody uses all the
> > > > exact same devices, no problem.
> > > >
> > > > Use roaming profiles only if everyone accesses their mail from the same
> > > > server using the same mail application.
> > > >
> > > > Use roaming profiles only if you are prepared to deal with backup/restore of
> > > > profiles on a regular bases. (users will become accustomed to always having
> > > > "their" icons to click on and will be lost without them)
> > > >
> > > > As for... What is a user benefit? Example: If users often have need to log
> > > > onto workstations other than their own and have access to their personally
> > > > configured mapped drives, and desktop icons. And their personally configured
> > > > mail (as in Outlook server and password config.).
> > > >
> > > > Don't fall into the trap of thinking roaming is always better just because
> > > > you can afford the bandwidth. And... yes, you will notice substantial "slow
> > > > downs" during logon and logoff times it everybody comes and goes as the
> > > > exact same time. Most times this is not an issue due to somewhat staggered
> > > > logon/logoff times (even by a minute or so).
> > > >
> > > > Do not think from the above statements that I am against roaming profiles. I
> > > > worked in an organization using roaming profiles where we had a 2000+
> > > > PC/User base, and it was great. But I need to tell you that every PC was
> > > > cloned, exactly like every other PC. Under these conditions, it's great. As
> > > > soon as you deviate from the above, the pittfalls start to outweigh the
> > > > advantages.
> > > >
> > > > -Frank
> > > >
> > > > "Roman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > > > news:39A8D2A2-0BEB-4739-B163-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > > > Hi all,
> > > > >
> > > > > Sorry if this is the wrong newsgroup to ask.
> > > > >
> > > > > I am planning to deploy roaming profiles in our LAN for approx. 50 users.
> > > > > The network is 100mbps. The hardware where all profiles planned to be
> > > > > stored
> > > > > is Xeon 2x3.2Ghz, 1GB RAM, SCSI 15k rpm, 100MB NIC. I have read about tips
> > > > > and tricks concerning roaming profiles (what to store and what to do to
> > > > > make
> > > > > things work faster) but I really appreciate if you could share your
> > > > > experience in case you have roaming profiles implemented. The question is:
> > > > > how fast it is, especially during login/logout time? I checked current
> > > > > network utilization and it is around 2-5mbps so I think there is enough
> > > > > space. I understand that the highest load will take place during the time
> > > > > user logs in first time, but how fast it is in general when 20-40 users
> > > > > simultaneously log out? Of course it depends on amount of information to
> > > > > synchronize but what are your personal observations?
> > > > >
> > > > > Thank you very much in advance!
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> >
> >

You state that your primary goal is to provide "backup" of user files in My
Documents, Desktop and Outlook PST. Also that you want a "backup" instance
of the user profile.

How are these related?

Have you considered simply not allowing use of My Documents or the Desktop
for file storage? (use a network share).

As for profiles, there are ways to back these up without using roaming
profiles.

As far as I can see, you are thinking of roaming profiles to be a sort of
"auto-backup" routine for user files and mail. Personally, I would not
implement roaming profiles for this reason alone. There are better
solutions.

-Frank

"Roman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:F1F0EC53-9BF8-4418-8DC1-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Frank,
>
> Thank you very much! I think that we are fully compatible. We all use
> the
> same hardware and software (ghost-ed). We also use MS Exchange so I am not
> concerned about email profiles cause all messages are stored in Exchange.
> What I am concerned of is My Documents, Desktop and Outlook PST files -
> all
> my users use laptops and travel a lot and I would like to provide them
> with
> kind of backup facility, so even in case of hardware failure (laptop
> failure)
> we will be able to recover the documents. Most probably I will exclude
> everything from being synchronized except My Documents and Desktop, and
> PST
> files as well. They also don't log onto workstations other than their
> own -
> so my main idea of roaming profiles is to have a backup instance only.
>
> Thanks a lot for your contribution!
>
> "Frankster" wrote:
>
>> Personal experience...
>>
>> Use roaming profiles only if there is an actual benefit to users.
>> Otherwise,
>> don't.
>>
>> Use roaming profiles only if all PCs use the same (exact same) OS and set
>> of
>> applications.
>>
>> Use roaming profiles only if all applications on all PCs are loaded on
>> the
>> same lettered hard drive (not when some PC have an app loaded on C while
>> others have the same app loaded on D).
>>
>> Use roaming profiles only if you lock down PCs to prevent users from
>> using
>> their own photos and such as their windows background.
>>
>> Use roaming profiles only if some users do not use things like iPOD
>> connections, Palm Pilot or PDA device "syncing". If everybody uses all
>> the
>> exact same devices, no problem.
>>
>> Use roaming profiles only if everyone accesses their mail from the same
>> server using the same mail application.
>>
>> Use roaming profiles only if you are prepared to deal with backup/restore
>> of
>> profiles on a regular bases. (users will become accustomed to always
>> having
>> "their" icons to click on and will be lost without them)
>>
>> As for... What is a user benefit? Example: If users often have need to
>> log
>> onto workstations other than their own and have access to their
>> personally
>> configured mapped drives, and desktop icons. And their personally
>> configured
>> mail (as in Outlook server and password config.).
>>
>> Don't fall into the trap of thinking roaming is always better just
>> because
>> you can afford the bandwidth. And... yes, you will notice substantial
>> "slow
>> downs" during logon and logoff times it everybody comes and goes as the
>> exact same time. Most times this is not an issue due to somewhat
>> staggered
>> logon/logoff times (even by a minute or so).
>>
>> Do not think from the above statements that I am against roaming
>> profiles. I
>> worked in an organization using roaming profiles where we had a 2000+
>> PC/User base, and it was great. But I need to tell you that every PC was
>> cloned, exactly like every other PC. Under these conditions, it's great.
>> As
>> soon as you deviate from the above, the pittfalls start to outweigh the
>> advantages.
>>
>> -Frank
>>
>> "Roman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:39A8D2A2-0BEB-4739-B163-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > Hi all,
>> >
>> > Sorry if this is the wrong newsgroup to ask.
>> >
>> > I am planning to deploy roaming profiles in our LAN for approx. 50
>> > users.
>> > The network is 100mbps. The hardware where all profiles planned to be
>> > stored
>> > is Xeon 2x3.2Ghz, 1GB RAM, SCSI 15k rpm, 100MB NIC. I have read about
>> > tips
>> > and tricks concerning roaming profiles (what to store and what to do to
>> > make
>> > things work faster) but I really appreciate if you could share your
>> > experience in case you have roaming profiles implemented. The question
>> > is:
>> > how fast it is, especially during login/logout time? I checked current
>> > network utilization and it is around 2-5mbps so I think there is enough
>> > space. I understand that the highest load will take place during the
>> > time
>> > user logs in first time, but how fast it is in general when 20-40 users
>> > simultaneously log out? Of course it depends on amount of information
>> > to
>> > synchronize but what are your personal observations?
>> >
>> > Thank you very much in advance!
>>
>>
>>