Remote Installation Services system requirements

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

This section describes the system requirements for Remote Installation Services (RIS) servers, client computers, and network adapters.

Server hardware requirements

The server hardware must meet minimum requirements for the product version of the Windows Server 2003 family that you are installing. For example, if you are installing Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition, your computer must meet the minimum requirements for this product. For more information, see Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition: System requirements.
4-gigabyte (GB) or larger disk drive for RIS server folder tree.
10 or 100 Mb/sec Windows-compatible network adapter that supports TCP/IP (100 Mb/sec recommended). A RIS server cannot be a multihomed computer; that is, it can contain only one network adapter.

The client computer must meet the minimum requirements for the operating system that is to be installed.
Pre-Boot eXecution Environment (PXE) DHCP-based boot ROM version 1.00 or greater.

To obtain a list of network adapters that RIS supports, run the Rbfg.exe utility. For additional information, see Create a remote boot disk.

RIS requires a significant amount of disk space. You should dedicate an entire partition to the RIS folder tree.
RIS cannot be installed on the same partition as the system volume or boot volume.
The volume on which you install RIS must be formatted with the NTFS file system.
RIS does not currently support the Encrypting File System (EFS). The Distributed File System (DFS) is not supported as a target location; however, you can run RIS on a computer that is also running DFS.
Windows Catalog contains a compilation of systems and hardware that have been extensively tested for stability and compatibility with products in the Windows Server 2003 family. The information in Windows Catalog is the guide Microsoft Product Support Services uses to determine whether a system is supported for use with the Windows Server 2003 family. For more information about hardware compatibility, see Support resources.

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