TL;DR: Windows Deployment Services (WDS) is a Microsoft tool that deploys prebuilt Windows images to multiple devices over a network using PXE boot. It does not build or customize images, only deploys them. While WDS is partially deprecated and MDT has been retired, WDS is still used in older Windows environments and can be paired with modern imaging tools like SmartDeploy.
Windows Deployment Services (WDS) is a Microsoft server role used to deploy Windows images to client computers over a network instead of a USB drive or a CD.
Microsoft built WDS to be the successor to Remote Installation Services, which — as you may have guessed — was the remote installation service used to image computers with a Windows OS. Microsoft partially deprecated WDS starting with Windows 11, but it remains supported and commonly used with older Windows versions, including:
Windows 8.1
Windows 10
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2019
Note: Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) has been retired
Microsoft has officially retired Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT). While MDT may still function in existing environments, it is no longer supported, updated, or recommended for new deployments.
This means organizations relying on the traditional MDT + WDS workflow should begin planning a transition to supported alternatives — such as Configuration Manager OS deployment, Windows Autopilot, or third-party imaging solutions like SmartDeploy.
What Windows Deployment Services does
Windows Deployment Services deploys prebuilt Windows images to computers over a network. It does not create, customize, or manage images beyond deployment. And while Microsoft is known for creating and releasing the simplest tools on the market (cries in Microsoft Entra ID), WDS really is a fairly simple tool. It is not, however, a robust tool.
WDS requires a prebuilt Windows image before deployment can begin. That means you need to have your golden image ready to go before introducing WDS to the mix. Many Microsoft shops traditionally used the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, or MDT, to build images (we’ll come back to this in a bit). Once they had that image, they could deploy it to multiple computers at once via multicast transmission.
The good news? WDS is free, easy to use (you know, for a Microsoft product 😅), and versatile — to an extent. You can deploy any Windows Imaging Format (.wim) file from any solution via WDS.
Windows Deployment Services vs. Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
The difference between WDS and MDT is scope. Windows Deployment Services deploys existing images, while the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit was used to build and customize those images with drivers, applications, and configurations.
But many people confuse MDT with WDS — and frankly, I totally get that confusion. Microsoft tends to lean into ... interesting ... naming conventions. (Seriously though, what was wrong with “Microsoft Azure Active Directory”?!). Plus, it’d make so much more sense to just have one tool to customize your image and then deploy it.
Just remember: You use WDS to fire up your computers and get them ready for deployment. Then, you used to use MDT to customize the image that got pushed to those computers. Many sysadmins used WDS and MDT together to image machines in their environments.
Computer imaging with SmartDeploy
SmartDeploy combines image creation and deployment into a single workflow. It replaces the traditional MDT and WDS pairing by allowing teams to build and deploy a single golden image across supported hardware.
Real talk: I’m l̶a̶z̶y̶ efficient, and if you’re like me, you’d prefer one tool that does it all. And that’s exactly why SmartDeploy exists. It allows you to build your golden image and deploy it wherever you need. And even better, we support the most recent Windows operating system — because keeping your devices updated should be rewarded, not penalized. 💅
With SmartDeploy, all you have to do is build your golden image and click a few buttons to deploy it across your devices. To make life even simpler, we built a robust repository with more than 1,500 device drivers to make building your golden image feel like a cafeteria-style experience. Our hardware-independent solution makes it possible to build golden images that play nicely with your devices. And even better, we offer virtual reference machines — because no sysadmin we know has the budget or the patience to deal with dozens of machines that exist solely to store unique images.
Together, WDS and MDT got the job done alright before MDT's retirement. But they were never really known for being the most efficient way to image. SmartDeploy is an end-to-end solution that gets the entire job done — because it’s been way too long since you’ve had a proper lunch break, my sysadmin friend.
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How to pair WDS with SmartDeploy
We’ve got in-depth documentation on how to integrate SmartDeploy with WDS. The TL;DR here is that you can use SmartDeploy to build and customize your images and then use WDS to leverage PXE boot and deploy them. This approach saves you a few steps, such as building images for each type of hardware in your environment, while still getting the job done more efficiently than using WDS with MDT.
See how SmartDeploy compares to the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit. Spoiler alert: SmartDeploy is way easier to use.
