Network ISO

[Peter]

Teddy Mills <teddy at ...> writes:
> I want to install 50 or so .ISOs on a server.
> Create a CD that will connect to that server over the network so I can 
> choose a distro and then start the installation
> 
> I was thinking of PXE, but I do not want to use PXE unless I have to.
> Getting a PC to boot from PXE or from CD is about the same amount of effort.
> 
> Is there a project that does something like this?

PXE will boot any compatible image supplied by a Linux or other server. PXE is
built into better network cards (from Intel etc). The open source options are
etherboot and (older, supports legacy ISA cards and the like), netboot. I have
used all three. PXE is the most painless option, as it is already in the boot
rom of the network card (if present). Either etherboot or netboot will create a
tiny image that boots from floppy or iso cdrom (you need one copy for each slave
server), including a boot menu that will allow you to select what to boot, or
even rom images that you can flash into each slave network card (requires
network cards with flash and a lot of manual work). 

The menus are more elaborate than what PXE offers but not by much. If you are
new to this you should practice on a server::client (2 pcs) configuration to get
a feel of how it works. Fyi bootable Linux CDs like Knoppix contain a terminal
server that you simply turn on and use. That will not be the fastest image
server in the world but it could get you started in 15 minutes or so, without
installing anything (but the images, which could live on a removable hdd on the
'server' that will boot the Knoppix image and serve as primary image server).

good luck,
Peter

PS: imnsho, do some math wrt. the boot time, assuming a perfect 100MBps network
and a reasonable number of slaves. You will be surprised ... and don't forget
that network contention increases exponentially as the number of hosts increases
linearly.


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