Opinion Needed: Application Sharing/Syncro.

[cyberkazoo]

Hi, there!

I was recently hired as an internship at local community college art department computer lab (almost all Mac!). One of the tasks I face is to keep all the software and system up-to-date. It seemed easy, but installing the same things over and over on many Mac is such a pain in a butt especially since I have to install from CDs, then get the updater patches, ... etc.

There got to be a way to make it easier!!!

Now, bare with me if you find me ingorant (I don't have anyone else who can teach me this at work)...
1) If we get MacOS X Server, can we get to use it to put everything (system, apps, fonts, etc..) then let other clients booted from this server? If so, which does the most of processing? As an example, imagine I have a photoshop installed on a server, and the entire class (21 macs to be exact) uses it over a network. Does the server process all the job, like filters and stuff? Or do clients do that?
2) If #1 is yes, I don't really see the need of backup/syncronization software such as Restrospect (network) or Synchronize! Pro. Do you?

I'm the only one to be able to give input on purchase discision, and I'm still confused! Any help (input, experience, suggestion) is greatly appreciated.

Oh, by the way ... I'm ready for X server, but the department is not. So we'll use 9 for client just because all the software we use are not ready just yet.

Thanks!

[rharder]

I've never used that NetBoot feature, but when you run a program from a remote computer, it's just like the hard drive is remote - you actually do all the processing on the local computer.

-Rob