Great references. Thanks Lisa! I may not live long enough to read all that they refer to though. :) I should have realized that my number 3 was basically the thin client idea. I just never looked into that side to see it was (or coould be) based on PXE. I still wonder about building a PXE server that could do all three. Granted you might never want to do that in a production environment, but I think it might be very interesting for a lab or installfest type project. On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 8:33 AM, Lisa Kachold wrote: > This has been a standard technique in Unix [BSD, AIX, Solaris and > HP-UX] for diskless servers since the early days (pre-Linus). > > In linux PXE booting from servers is best supported via LTSP project: > > http://www.ltsp.org/ > http://www.kegel.com/linux/pxe.html > http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/feature/1639.html > > It is very fun, especially with older hardware and nice fast networking. > > Additional fiber channel RAID for shared disk I/O on a switched > backplane makes these systems nice and swift. > > On 2/12/10, Dazed_75 wrote: > > Turns out the two PXE servers I built do totally different things and > really > > should be called PXE based Install Servers AND I can imagine a third > which > > might more properly be described as a PXE Boot Server. BTW, for those > who > > do not know, PXE stands for Pre-eXecution Environment and really does let > > you boot a machine from the network. Anyway, here are the three types I > > mentioned: > > > > 1. from https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PXEInstallMultiDistro I > built a > > server that does PXE boots from files stored entirely on the PXE > server. > > Those files came from .iso files that had been previously mounted and > the > > necessary material extracted when the server is set up. The .iso > files > > need > > not be kept since they are not used during a PXE boot. The booting is > > generally into a Live environment with the option of installing. > > 2. from > > > > > http://www.howtoforge.com/install-multiple-linux-distributions-via-pxe-the-easy-wayI > > built a PXE server that does PXE boots using only a few files resident > > on > > the PXE server and retrieves most of the material from the internet > EVERY > > TIME a client uses the PXE based boot. These all seem to boot > directly > > to > > an installer (no live environment). > > 3. I have not seen any article for this but I can imagine PXE booting > > being used simply to boot a system where the OS and Application files > > only > > live on the PXE server. Configuration and user files could live > locally > > or > > on the server. I suspect PXE is never used this way but do not know. > > > > BTW, the server I built for #2 only works for some of the distributions > it > > purports to. Both the Fedora and CentOS installs fail because the > install > > procedures ask for information that the client doing the booting cannot > > provide. Ubuntu Karmic and Mandriva seem to work fine. The single entry > > for Karmic appears able to install all the core distributions (i.e. > Ubuntu, > > Kubuntu, etc). The Mandriva install lets you choose KDE, GNOME, or > CUSTOM > > (whatever that means). > > > > It seems to me that method 1 is superior for speed and bandwidth > > considerations. Method 2 seems better for the ability to install > variations > > of configuration or distro builds. I suspect it would be possible to do > > both in a single PXE server though it would be more work. > > > > What I would like to see for method #1 is that the .iso files were > retained > > for use in burning discs either on the PXE server or a client on the net > > (not a PXE function) AND might be mounted by the PXE server function > rather > > than having to extract files when building the server. Since all three > uses > > only require reading the .iso's I would think they could be shared. > > > > Opinions? And is anyone interested in this? > > > > -- > > Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry > > > > The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain > occasions, > > that I wish it always to be kept alive. > > - Thomas Jefferson > > > > > -- > Skype: (623)239-3392 > AT&T: (503)754-4452 > http://obnosis.110mb.com/nuke/index.php > http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Arizona > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > -- Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive. - Thomas Jefferson