Enterprise Deployment

Macrium Site Deploy

Network-based OS deployment and mass imaging for IT teams. Deploy standardized Windows images to hundreds of machines simultaneously using PXE boot and multicast transfer.

Download Free Trial Enterprise Pricing

What Is Macrium Site Deploy?

Macrium Site Deploy is a network-based operating system deployment solution that enables IT administrators to deploy standardized Windows disk images to one, ten, or hundreds of machines simultaneously over the local network. Instead of manually installing Windows, drivers, and applications on each machine individually, administrators create a single golden master image and deploy it to all target machines in a single operation.

Site Deploy leverages PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) boot technology to enable target machines to boot from the network without any local media. When a target machine PXE boots, it loads the Macrium recovery environment from the Site Deploy server, connects to the image repository, and receives its deployment image. For multi-machine deployments, multicast transfer sends a single image stream to all target machines simultaneously, dramatically reducing deployment time and network bandwidth consumption.

Combined with Macrium ReDeploy, Site Deploy can deploy a single master image to machines with different hardware configurations — different motherboards, different storage controllers, different network adapters — without creating hardware-specific images. ReDeploy automatically injects the correct drivers during deployment, making it practical to maintain a single golden image for an entire fleet of heterogeneous hardware.

Deployment Capabilities

Network-Based OS Deployment

Deploy Windows operating system images to bare-metal machines over the network using PXE boot. No USB drives, no DVDs — target machines boot from the network and receive their OS image from a central Macrium Site Deploy server.

Centralized Image Repository

Store and manage master disk images on a central server. Create golden images with pre-installed applications, drivers, and configurations, then deploy them to any number of target machines with a single operation.

Multicast Deployment

Deploy the same image to dozens or hundreds of machines simultaneously using multicast network transfer. A single image stream serves all target machines, reducing network bandwidth consumption by up to 90% compared to individual unicast transfers.

Hardware-Independent Imaging

Deploy a single master image to machines with different hardware configurations. Macrium ReDeploy technology automatically injects the correct storage, network, and chipset drivers during deployment, eliminating the need for hardware-specific images.

Scheduled Mass Deployment

Schedule deployments for after-hours execution. Configure Site Deploy to re-image lab computers every night, refresh kiosk machines weekly, or deploy updated images to training rooms before each session — all without manual intervention.

Image Security and Encryption

Master images are encrypted with AES-256 and stored in a secure, access-controlled repository. Deploy with confidence that your standardized configurations, pre-installed licenses, and sensitive data remain protected during transfer.

Setup Guide

How to Set Up Site Deploy

Install Site Deploy Server

Install the Macrium Site Deploy server component on a Windows Server or dedicated workstation. The server hosts the image repository, PXE boot services, and deployment management console. Requirements: Windows Server 2016 or later (or Windows 10/11 Pro), sufficient storage for your master images (500 GB to several TB depending on image count), and a wired Ethernet connection to the deployment network.

Create a Golden Master Image

Prepare a reference machine with a clean Windows installation, all required applications, drivers, group policy configurations, and security settings. Use Macrium Reflect to create a full disk image of this reference machine. This image becomes your golden master — the standardized configuration that will be deployed to all target machines. Store the golden image in the Site Deploy repository.

Configure PXE Boot Services

Site Deploy includes a built-in PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) server that enables target machines to boot from the network without any local media. Configure your DHCP server to point to the Site Deploy PXE server, or use Site Deploy's built-in DHCP proxy if you cannot modify your existing DHCP infrastructure. Target machines boot via PXE, load the Macrium recovery environment over the network, and are ready to receive their deployment image.

Configure Deployment Tasks

In the Site Deploy management console, create deployment tasks that specify which image to deploy, which target machines to include, and what post-deployment actions to perform. Options include domain join, computer renaming using naming templates, driver injection via ReDeploy, and post-deployment script execution. Tasks can target individual machines by MAC address or entire subnets.

Execute or Schedule Deployment

Deploy immediately or schedule for a maintenance window. For immediate deployment, PXE-boot the target machines and the deployment begins automatically. For scheduled deployments, configure the target machines to PXE-boot first (via BIOS settings or Wake-on-LAN), and Site Deploy handles the rest. The management console displays real-time progress for each target machine, including transfer speed, estimated completion time, and success or failure status.

Deployment Use Cases

IT Department Workstation Rollouts

When onboarding new employees or refreshing aging hardware, IT teams need to deploy a standardized Windows environment with company applications, security policies, VPN configurations, and domain join settings. Site Deploy transforms this from a multi-hour manual process per machine into a 15-minute automated deployment. Create one golden image, deploy it to every new workstation, and guarantee consistency across the organization.

Reduce workstation provisioning from 4+ hours to under 15 minutes per machine.

Education and Computer Labs

Schools and universities manage hundreds of lab computers that students use — and often misconfigure or infect — daily. Site Deploy enables lab administrators to re-image every machine overnight, ensuring students arrive each morning to a clean, standardized environment. Schedule nightly re-imaging and every machine is reset to the golden image by morning, with all applications, printers, and network drives pre-configured.

Automated nightly re-imaging of lab environments without staff intervention.

Retail and Point-of-Sale

Retail chains need to deploy identical POS software configurations across hundreds of store locations. Site Deploy supports both local network deployment within a single store and remote deployment across multiple sites via WAN replication. Update POS software on the golden image once, then push the updated image to every register across every location.

Uniform POS configurations across all retail locations with centralized management.

Healthcare and Regulatory Compliance

Healthcare organizations must maintain SOC 2 and HIPAA-compliant workstation configurations. Site Deploy provides audit-ready documentation of exactly which image was deployed to which machine and when. Standardized images ensure every workstation meets security requirements, and rapid re-imaging capability supports incident response when a machine is compromised.

Audit-ready deployment records for HIPAA and SOC 2 compliance.

Manual Installation vs Site Deploy

Task	Manual	Site Deploy
Deploy OS to 1 machine	2-4 hours	15-30 minutes
Deploy OS to 10 machines	20-40 hours	15-30 minutes (multicast)
Deploy OS to 100 machines	200-400 hours	30-60 minutes (multicast)
Update application on all machines	1-2 hours per machine	Update golden image, redeploy
Recover from ransomware incident	Days to weeks	Hours (mass re-image)
Maintain configuration consistency	Impossible at scale	Guaranteed by golden image

Network Requirements

Gigabit Ethernet

1 Gbps wired network minimum between the Site Deploy server and target machines. 10 GbE is recommended for deployments of 50+ simultaneous machines. Wireless deployment is not supported due to PXE boot requirements.

DHCP Server

A DHCP server is required for PXE boot. Site Deploy can use your existing DHCP infrastructure (with DHCP option 66/67 or IP helper configuration) or its built-in DHCP proxy for environments where the main DHCP server cannot be modified.

Dedicated VLAN (Recommended)

For large deployments, a dedicated deployment VLAN isolates multicast traffic from production network traffic. This prevents deployment operations from impacting other network services.

Storage IOPS

The Site Deploy server needs sufficient storage throughput to serve images to multiple machines simultaneously. SSD or NVMe storage on the server is recommended for deployments exceeding 20 simultaneous machines.

Written by

Macrium Software Technical Team

The Macrium technical team has been developing industry-leading disk imaging and backup solutions since 2006. With deep expertise in Windows storage systems, NTFS, GPT/MBR disk structures, and enterprise backup architecture, our engineers write authoritative guides based on hands-on experience protecting data for over 10 million users worldwide.

Microsoft Certified PartnerPC Magazine Editor's Choice18+ Years of Expertise

Streamline Your OS Deployment

Deploy standardized Windows images to your entire fleet in minutes instead of days. Contact us for enterprise pricing and a guided evaluation.

Download Free Trial Contact Sales

Includes PXE boot, multicast deployment, ReDeploy, and centralized management.

Related Guides & Resources

Explore more expert guides on disk imaging, cloning, and backup.