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| Ghost | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Norton Ghost v15 home screen | |
| Original author | Murray Haszard |
| Developer | Symantec |
| Initial release | 1995 (1995) |
| Stable release(s) | |
| Operating system |
|
| Type | Disk cloning |
| License | Trialware |
| Website | ghost |
GHOST (anacronym forgeneral hardware-oriented system transfer[4]), now calledSymantec™ GHOST Solution Suite (GSS)[5] for enterprise, is adisk cloning andbackup tool originally developed byMurray Haszard in 1995 forBinary Research. The technology was bought in 1998 bySymantec.
The backup and recovery feature was replaced by Symantec System Recovery (SSR).
Broadcom bought Symantec's Enterprise Security business in 2019.
GHOST is marketed as an OS (Operating System) deployment solution. Its capture and deployment environment requires booting to aWindows PE environment. This can be accomplished by creating an ISO (to burn to a DVD) or a USB bootable disk, installed to a client as an automation folder or delivered by aPXE server. This provides an environment to perform offline system recovery or image creation. GHOST canmount a backup volume to recover individual files.
GHOST can copy the contents of onevolume to another or copy a volume's contents to avirtual disk inVMDK orVHD format.
Initially, GHOST supported only theFAT file system, but could only copy (not resize) other file systems by performing asector-by-sector transfer. GHOST added support forNTFS later in 1996, and also provided a program, Ghostwalker, to change the Security ID (SID) that madeWindows NT systems distinguishable from each other. Ghostwalker is capable of modifying the name of theWindows NT computer from its own interface. GHOST added support for theEXT2 file system in 1999 and forEXT3 subsequently. Support forEXT4 was added in September 2017 (Enterprise only).
Binary Research developed GHOST inAuckland, New Zealand. After the Symantec acquisition, a few functions (such as translation into other languages) were moved elsewhere, but the main development remained in Auckland until October 2009 at which time much was moved to India.[citation needed]
Technologies developed by 20/20 Software were integrated into GHOST after their acquisition by Symantec in April 2000.[6]
GHOST 1.0 and 1.1 were released in 1996, followed by 2.0 (2.07) in the same year. These versions supported only the cloning of entire disks. They could run on an IBM XT and without extended memory. They also worked withOS/2.[7]
Version 3.1, released in 1997 supports cloning individualpartitions. GHOST could clone a disk or partition to another disk or partition or to an image file. GHOST allows for writing a clone or image to a second disk in the same machine, another machine linked by a parallel or network cable, a network drive, or to a tape drive. 3.1 uses 286 with XMS and could still run on OS/2.[7]
Version 4.0 of GHOST addedmulticast technology, following the lead of a competitor,ImageCast. Multicasting supports sending a singlebackup image simultaneously to other machines without putting greater stress on the network than by sending an image to a single machine. This version also introduced GHOST Explorer, aWindows program which supports browsing the contents of a disk image file and extracting individual files from it. Explorer was subsequently enhanced to support adding and deleting files in aFAT-formatted image, and later withEXT2,EXT3 andNTFSfile systems. Until 2007, GHOST Explorer could not edit NTFS images. GHOST Explorer could work with images from older versions but only slowly; version 4 images contain indexes to find files rapidly.
Version 4.0 also moved fromreal-modeDOS to286protected mode viaPharlap Extender.[7] The additional memory available allows GHOST to provide several levels ofcompression for images, and to provide the file browser. In 1998, GHOST 4.1 supports password-protected images. This version dropped OS/2 support.[7]
Version 5.0 moved to386protected mode. Unlike thetext-based user interface of earlier versions, 5.0 uses agraphical user interface (GUI). The Binary Research logo, two stars revolving around each other, plays on the main screen when the program is idle.[7] In 1998, Gdisk, a script-basedpartition manager, was integrated in Ghost. Gdisk serves a role similar toFdisk, but has greater capabilities.
A Norton GHOST version forNovell NetWare (called 2.0), released around 1999, supportsNSS partitions (although it runs inDOS, like the others).
GHOST 6.0, released in 2000, includes a management console for managing large numbers of machines. The console communicates with client software on managed computers and allows asystem administrator to refresh the disk of a machine remotely. As a DOS-based program, GHOST requires machines running Windows to reboot to DOS to run it. GHOST 6.0 requires a separate DOS partition when used with the console.[8]
Released March 31, 2001, Norton GHOST version 7.0 (retail) was marketed as Norton GHOST 2002 Personal Edition.
Released December 14, 2001, GHOST 7.5 creates a virtual partition, a DOS partition which actually exists as a file within a normal Windows file system. This significantly eased systems management because the user no longer had to set up their own partition tables. GHOST 7.5 can write images toCD-R discs. Later versions can writeDVDs.
GHOST 8.0 can run directly from Windows. It is well-suited for placement on bootable media, such asBartPE′s bootable CD. The corporate edition supportsunicast,multicast andpeer-to-peer transfers viaTCP/IP. GHOST 8.0 supports NTFS file system, although NTFS is not accessible from a DOS program.
The off-line version of Ghost, which runs from bootable media in place of the installed operating system, originally faced a number of driver support difficulties due to limitations of the increasingly obsolete 16-bitDOS environment. Driver selection and configuration within DOS was non-trivial from the beginning, and the limited space available on floppy disks made disk cloning of several different disk controllers a difficult task, where differentSCSI,USB, and CD-ROM drives were involved. Mouse support was possible but often left out due to the limited space for drivers on a floppy disk. Some devices such as USB often did not work using newer features such as USB 2.0, instead only operating at 1.0 speeds and taking hours to do what should have taken only a few minutes. As widespread support for DOS went into decline, it became increasingly difficult to get hardware drivers for DOS for the newer hardware.
Disk imaging competitors to GHOST have dealt with the decline of DOS by moving to other recovery environments such asFreeBSD,Linux orWindows PE, where they can draw on current driver development to be able to image newer models of disk controllers. Nevertheless, the DOS version of GHOST on compatible hardware configurations works much faster than most of the *nix based image and backup tools[citation needed].
GHOST 8 and later are Windows programs; as such, they can run on Windows PE,BartPE or Hiren's BootCD and use the same plug and play hardware drivers as a standard desktop computer, making hardware support for GHOST much simpler.
Norton GHOST 2003, a consumer edition of Ghost, was released on September 6, 2002. Available as an independent product, Norton GHOST 2003 was also included as a component of Norton SystemWorks 2003 Professional. A simpler, non-corporate version of Ghost, Norton GHOST 2003 does not include the console but has a Windows front-end to script GHOST operations and create a bootable GHOSTdiskette. The machine still needs to reboot to the virtual partition, but the user does not need to interact with DOS. Symantec deprecatedLiveUpdate support for Norton GHOST 2003 in early 2006.
At the end of 2003, Symantec acquired its largest competitor in the disk-cloning field,[citation needed]PowerQuest. On August 2, 2004, Norton GHOST 9.0 was released as a new consumer version of Ghost, which is based on PowerQuest'sDrive Image version 7, and provides Live imaging of a Windows system. GHOST 9 continues to leverage the PowerQuest (v2i) file format, meaning it is not backward compatible with previous versions of Ghost. However, a version of GHOST 8.0 is included on the GHOST 9 recovery disk to support existing GHOST customers.
GHOST split into two code bases following the acquisition of PowerQuest. The consumer line uses PowerQuest's V2I technology, while the enterprise line builds upon the original GHO format.
GHOST 9.0 was released August 2, 2004. It represents a significant shift in the consumer product line from GHOST 2003, in several ways:
Since GHOST 9 does not support the older .gho format disk images, a separate CD containing GHOST 2003 is included in the retail packaging for users needing to access those older images.
The limitations of GHOST 9 compared to GHOST 2003 were not well-communicated by Symantec, and resulted in many dissatisfied customers who purchased GHOST 9 expecting the previous version's features (like making images from the bootable GHOST environment, no installation required, and no product activation).
Released circa 2005. Supports creating images on CDs, DVDs,Iomega Zip andJaz disks as well asIEEE 1394 (FireWire) andUSB mass storage devices. Supports encrypting images andMaxtorexternal hard disk drives with Maxtor OneTouch buttons. GHOST 10.0 is compatible with previous versions, but not with future versions.
Norton Save And Restore 1.0, released in February 2006, was the renamed consumer version of Ghost. It used GHOST 10.0's engine, with the addition of features to allow backup and restoration of individual files.
GHOST 12.0 (April 2007) includesWindows Vista support with an updated and more thorough user interface. It supports both full system backup and individual files or folders backup.
This version provides a "LightsOut Restore" feature, which restores a system from an on-disk software recovery environment similar toWindows RE, thereby allowing recovery without a bootable CD. Upon system startup, a menu asks whether start the operating system or the LightsOut recovery environment. LightsOut restore would augment theISO image, which comes with Ghost. The latter contains a recovery environment that can recover a system without a working operating system.
NSR 2.0 has fewer features in comparison to Norton GHOST 12. NSR 2.0 offers one-time backups, file and folder backup, simplified schedule editor, Maxtor OneTouch integration and modifiable Symantec recovery disc. This version supports 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista.
Version 14.0 (November 2007) usesVolume Snapshot Service (VSS) to make backups and can store backups to anFTP site. GHOST can connect to ThreatCon, a Symantec service that monitors malware activity around the world, and performsincremental backups when a specific threat level is reached. Other features include the ability to back up tonetwork-attached storage devices and support forNTFS partitions up to 16TB. GHOST can manage other installations of version 12.0 or later across a network.
This version no longer supports opening .gho image files. It stores images in .v2i format. Incremental backup images created with Norton GHOST are saved with .iv2i filename extensions alone the original full backup (with .v2i filename extension) on a regular basis. Older .gho image files can be restored using GHOST Explorer, a separate utility.
According to the Norton community on Symantec's site,[9] the following features are available in Norton GHOST 15 of April 2010:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Improved support for virtual formats | [further explanation needed] |
| Improved platform support | Includes support for Windows 7, Windows Vista with SP2 andBitLocker-encrypted volumes |
| Create recovery points from within Symantec Recovery Disk | Creates independent recovery points (known as a cold backup or offline backup) without the need to install Norton GHOST or its agent |
| Convert recovery points to virtual disks using a schedule | Scheduled-based automatic conversion of recovery points toVMDK orVHD files, or to aVMware ESX orMicrosoft Hyper-V server |
| Support forMicrosoft Hyper-V andBlu-ray Disc | Recovery points may now be created or restored from either |
Norton GHOST was discontinued on April 30, 2013.[10] Support via chat and knowledge base was available until June 30, 2014. Until it was removed,[10] the Symantec GHOST Web page invited GHOST customers to try Symantec System Recovery,[11] described as software for backup and disaster recovery.
Released November 15, 2004, Symantec renamed the Enterprise version of GHOST toSymantec GHOST Solution Suite 1.0. This helped clarify the difference between the consumer and business editions of the product. According to Symantec, Symantec GHOST and Norton GHOST are two separate product lines based around different technologies developed by different teams.[12] This was further defined in February 2006, with the release of Norton Save And Restore (also known asNorton Backup And Restore), a standalone backup application based on GHOST 10.0.
GHOST Solution Suite 1.1 was released in December 2005. GHOST Solution Suite 1.1 is a bundle of an updated version of Ghost, Symantec Client Migration (a user data and settings migration tool) and the former PowerQuest equivalent, DeployCenter (using PQI images). It can create an image file that is larger than 2 GB. (In GHOST 8.2 or earlier, such image files are automatically split into two or more segments, so that each segment has a maximum size of 2 GB.) Other new features include more comprehensive manufacturing tools, and the ability to create a "universal boot disk".[further explanation needed]
GHOST Solution Suite 2.0 was released in November 2006. This version provides significant improvements in performance, as well as the ability to edit NTFS images. This version also adds support forWindows Vista,x64 versions of Windows, andGUID Partition Table (GPT) disks. However, the software does not fully support systems withExtensible Firmware Interface (EFI) firmware.
GHOST 11.0 supports saving and restoring from native GHOST image format (.gho, .ghs) and raw images (.img, .raw).
The GHOST software for enterprise, including GHOST 11.5, was released in May 2008.[13] New features include:[14]
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| DeployAnywhere | Allows drivers to be injected during image deployment to lessen the need for hardware dependent images. |
| Hot imaging | Allows live machines to be used as the source to keep images from becoming stale and out of date. |
| Image formats | GHOST 11.5 supports saving to and restoring from native GHOST image format (.gho and .ghs) andVMDK format (.vmdk). It also supports restoring from DriveImage format (.v2i, .iv2i,)PowerQuest image format (.pqi) andSymantec Backup Exec System Recovery (BESR) format. |
| PreOS boot disk |
|
As of January 6, 2010, the latest build from Live Update is 11.5.1.2266 (Live Update 5 (LU5)).[15] This updates GHOST Solution Suite to 2.5.1 and provides support forWindows 7 andWindows Server 2008 R2. Furthermore, GHOST 11.5 is compatible withBartPE's bootable CD using aPE Builder plug-in for Symantec GHOST 11
GSS 3.0, including GHOST 12.0 and Deployment Solution 6.9, was announced in March 2015.[16]
GSS 3.1, including GHOST 12.0 and Deployment Solution 6.9, was released on 7 March 2016.
GSS 3.2, including GHOST 12.0 and Deployment Solution 6.9, was released on 18 May 2017. Release Update 3, which was released 22 September 2017, added support for theext4 filesystem.[17]
GSS 3.3, including GHOST 12.0 and Deployment Solution 6.9, was released on 31 October 2018. This release added support for GHOST Solution Suite Web Console,iPXE, Windows Server 2016, Smart raw imaging, and 4K native drive support.
