With the Image Management functionality, MCS separates the mastering phase from the overall provisioning workflow.
You can prepare various MCS-Image versions (aka Prepared Images) from a single Master image and use it across multiple, different MCS-based Machine Catalogs, bringing both version management and logical grouping to Citrix MCS.
This implementation significantly reduces the storage cost, the needed deployment time, and the administrative burden for VM deployment and image updating.
The benefits of using Image Management are:
- Generate prepared images in advance without creating a Machine Catalog.
- Reuse prepared images in multiple scenarios, such as creating and updating a Machine Catalog.
- Significantly reduce the time needed to create or update a machine catalog.
Find more information on Citrix Tech Zone:
https://community.citrix.com/tech-zone/build/deployment-guides/image-management-a-new-way-of-deploying-machine-catalogs-and-reducing-master-image-complexity-r288/