Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is a diskless boot? Until recently, network boots were typically done using software such as Etherboot, or firmware such as Intel's PXE. Using these technologies, a client machine obtains the location of a target machine, and, through TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol), downloads a root file system and operating system kernel, and then executes the kernel. There are several drawbacks to the approach, including: A TFTP server is required on the local network. Windows NT/2000 will not work in this mode. Changes to images acquired via TFTP cannot be saved. Q2. If diskless boot already exists, what makes iBoot unique? As opposed to existing boot technologies, iBoot can be used to boot Windows. Up until now, other methods have been limited to booting Linux operating systems. This is the first system to remotely boot Windows. The remote boot offers a seamless solution; changes to the kernel can be made permanent. Say, for example, a user wants to add a Linux module to support new drivers. With existing methods, the module is lost when the computer is shut down and users have to repeatedly add the module every time they boot the machine. iBoot is capable of saving these changes, making them permanent. iBoot also supports a dual boot option. Users are not limited to a single operating system and can select the desired operating system from a menu at boot time, offering enhanced flexibility of operation. Q3. How does it work? IBM researchers created a small option ROM image, which contains iSCSI client code, a TCP/IP stack, and BIOS interrupt code. Upon boot, the BIOS disk I/O interrupt goes through the iBoot code to communicate directly with the remote iSCSI target, providing seamless access to the SCSI files. Q4. How is this different from X-stations of the past? X stations were terminals that contained code in RAM, which allowed them to connect to a central computer and "X serve" a display from the central computer to their terminal. Increasing the number of X stations that run off a computer would cause a degradation in performance. Using iBoot, users are using the computing power of their own computer, without competing with others for compute cycles, while their hard disk space is managed at a remote storage facility. Q5. What operating systems does it work with? iBoot works with Linux and Windows 2000 and XP. Q6. Is iBoot a product? Can I buy a copy? iBoot is not a product, nor has IBM committed to productising iBoot. IBM is willing to license iBoot technology though. Q7. Is iBoot technology currently in use? iBoot has been licensed to a major US customer.