This might be interestingly relevant as well:
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/ltsp/index.php?title=Ltsp_BootingFromLocalDevice
its a branch from LTSP however for old machines that don't have PXE functions.
On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 8:45 AM, Paul Mooring <
drpppr242@gmail.com> wrote:
> Another setup I think works pretty well is thinstation
> http://www.thinstation.org/
> It's used to boot into a really minimal version of linux that connects
> directly to a remote server through rdp, vnc. ssh, ect
>
> On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 8:33 AM, Lisa Kachold <lisakachold@obnosis.com> 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 <lthielster@gmail.com> 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
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
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