Symantec Ghost Solution Suite

Score8 out of 10

10 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for Symantec Ghost Solution Suite are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Efficient Image Deployment: Users appreciate the ability of Ghost Solution Suite to create a library of images that can be deployed based on specific usage, saving them time by eliminating the need for manual configuration. Many reviewers have found this feature helpful in building computers from scratch.

Remote Management Capabilities: The capability to push out scripts and jobs to computers remotely is highly valued by users as it allows them to manage multiple machines simultaneously. This feature has received positive feedback from several reviewers who find it convenient and efficient.

User-Friendly Interface: The simple and user-friendly interface of Ghost Solution Suite is praised by users who find it easy to navigate and master. The software's wizards simplify complex tasks, making them more accessible for users. Several reviewers have mentioned their appreciation for the intuitive design of the graphical interface.

Reviews

4 Reviews

Deploy computer with Ghost to ease the from-scratch loading process

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

November 19, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Ghost Solution Suite to image new and existing computers. We use it company wide. We use Ghost for new computers to image them with a company approved image when they arrive. We also find it helpful to re-image an existing computer when an employee leaves. Rather then give an existing computer to a new employee, we find it better to clean out the computer so the installation of Windows and the company applications are fresh. We find using Ghost makes this a quicker process and provides a new employee a clean computer, free of old files, settings and cache from the old users. This saves us time form having to install everything from scratch.

Pros

Ghost saves valuable time by imaging a new computer rather than having to setup new or existing computers from scratch.
You can build a library of images to be used for workstations and servers. Depending on the particular usage for the computer or server, you can deploy the image most appropriate for that computer or server.
Another big benefit is saving time on having to configure or remember all the custom setting you may need. Ghost Solution saved the setting configurations in the image, saving you hours of manual configurations.

Cons

Even though Ghost Solution Suite saves configurations, software settings and installation within the image, there is still some manual configuration that needs to be done once the image is complete.
Installing Drivers for specific models of computers. With Ghost Solution Suite, it can be difficult to get the drivers for all the hardware of all the different model computers, so you have to create different images for different model computers. It would be nice to have the ability to have a hardware independent image for all model computers
Image Size. Ghost does have compression to reduce the size of the image, but when you have to store all the drivers within the image it increases the total size of the image you need to manage.

Likelihood to Recommend

Symantec Ghost Solution Suite is well suited to standard images of company approved software and standard configurations for all users. When every user has the same computer configuration, it is easily managed with a standard image across the board. It is less effective if you need to have multiple configurations for different groups. It becomes cumbersome to manage all the various images. When you add to the complexity by having to address the different drivers for the different hardware model computers, this only adds to the overall number of images you will have to manage, create and keep updated. I find Ghost most helpful with standard hardware model computers and one or two images company wide.

Dave King

Director of IT in Information Technology at Preis PLC (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

12 years of experience

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Slow, but super useful

Rating: 6 out of 10

Incentivized

July 9, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Ghost Solutions Suite to manage upwards of 1000+ PCs on our network. We create scripts to push out applications and other stuff to lots of computers. We also use Ghost Solutions Suite to image computers without having to touch hundreds of computers. We image all of our lab machines every summer.

Pros

Pushing out scripts and jobs to computers
Remote imaging and pushing out Windows OS Images
Helping to track who pushed out what jobs

Cons

It's incredibly slow at times. When multiple users are using the console, it gets even slower.
The dialog and popup boxes do not get bigger. Some lines can be very large and it can be hard to read the scripts.
The BIOS must be reconfigured sometimes if a legacy boot is not being used when network booting for reimaging.

Likelihood to Recommend

It helps to manage the mass of computers we use. We use GSS to see where and who deployed software to what computers. This can particularly be helpful when dealing with license usage, and tracking how many licenses we have left, and where those licenses have been used. We are able to use it to manage clients.

Andrew Breyen

Client Assistant in Information Technology at Camp Olson YMCA (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

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Symantec Ghost Solution Suite for Larger Companies!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 17, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our team implemented Symantec Ghost Solution Suite to help with yearly images of our school machines. We had seven computer labs that needed to re-imaged every year. This helped us speed up the process, since before, we had to individually image one machine at a time. This way we clicked a few buttons, and after a while, we had clean working machines.

Pros

Simple and easy to use interface
Easily image multiple computers at the same time
Deploys software

Cons

Initial install could be easier. Had to call support to assist.
Joining domains had a few kinks that had to be figured out.

Likelihood to Recommend

Symantec Ghost Solution Suite is well suited for larger environments. I used it in a full K-12 school and it saved me from a lot of unnecessary work. I feel that this software would be less appropriate in smaller businesses with less that 20 users. It seems to be meant for larger organizations.

Brian Wheatley

System Engineer in Information Technology at CIO Technology Solutions (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

1 year of experience

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GSS 3.0, it's good!

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

November 10, 2015

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We currently use Symantec Ghost Solutions Suite 3.0 to capture and deploy PC images to specific hardware types.

Pros

Ghost Cast [Server} gets the job done.
Easy to use.
Nice UI.

Cons

Setting up PXE has a learning curve.
Still trying to figure out if we can create one golden (master) image for all hardware types.
Would love a way to be able to refresh PCs with effecting user and program data.

Likelihood to Recommend

Windows Deployment Services may be a better option if you have time to learn the scripting process.

Verified User

Technician in Information Technology (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

5 years of experience

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Deploy computer with Ghost to ease the from-scratch loading process

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

November 19, 2018

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Ghost saves valuable time by imaging a new computer rather than having to setup new or existing computers from scratch.
You can build a library of images to be used for workstations and servers. Depending on the particular usage for the computer or server, you can deploy the image most appropriate for that computer or server.
Another big benefit is saving time on having to configure or remember all the custom setting you may need. Ghost Solution saved the setting configurations in the image, saving you hours of manual configurations.

Cons

Even though Ghost Solution Suite saves configurations, software settings and installation within the image, there is still some manual configuration that needs to be done once the image is complete.
Installing Drivers for specific models of computers. With Ghost Solution Suite, it can be difficult to get the drivers for all the hardware of all the different model computers, so you have to create different images for different model computers. It would be nice to have the ability to have a hardware independent image for all model computers
Image Size. Ghost does have compression to reduce the size of the image, but when you have to store all the drivers within the image it increases the total size of the image you need to manage.

Likelihood to Recommend

Dave King

Director of IT in Information Technology at Preis PLC (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

12 years of experience

View profile