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Boot From iSCSI Storage Using Existing Ethernet Adapters
Enables iSCSI boot of Windows Server 2003 and 2008 using the Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator and standard Ethernet adapters.
- Significantly reduce initial capital and implementation costs
- Reduce power and cooling requirements
- Accelerate deployments, upgrades, and server repurposing
- Reduce complexity and risk
- Improve critical system availability
- Implement enhanced Disaster Recovery solutions
Fully leverage your investment in iSCSI storage with iSCSI boot!
Key Benefits
- Uses Existing Ethernet Cards
- HBAs not required
- Mix vendor NICs – one environment – same capabilities
- Microsoft Certified Boot From iSCSI SAN Solution
- Supports Microsoft’s Boot-From-SAN Initiative
- Reduced Power and Cooling Requirements
- Supports “green” initiatives
- Reduced Implementation Costs
- Eliminates local hard drives and reduces space requirements
- Rapidly clone boot images and assign to new servers
- Use the winMigr8 utility to facilitate multiple-vendor server deployments
- Accelerates Server Deployments & Repurposing
- Centralized Management allows rapid configuration or reconfiguration of any server booting from iSCSI – no visiting individual servers
- Provided utilities, including winMigr8, reduce the effort required to create and assign new boot images
- Use the Management Console to quickly clone and assign boot configuration records
- Improve System Availability
- Assign up to 10 iSCSI boot targets to individual servers
- Menu-selectable at boot time
- Automatic failover to alternate targets upon boot failure
- Use in multi-pathing during boot
- Implement redundant winBoot/i Server(s) to increase system resiliency
- Improved Disaster & Server Recovery Capabilities
- Store operating system, boot configuration, and application data together on the iSCSI SAN and use its replication features to create fast-recovery sites.
- Quickly boot spare servers to recover from hardware failures
- Spare servers no longer must be “identical” for rapid recovery.
- Leverages Investment in iSCSI Storage
- Use external RAID controllers and mult-pathing to improve availability
- Use data management features native to SANS (Backup /restore, data replication, snapshots, mirroring, disk capacity resizing, etc.) to extend protection to boot drives
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Features and Capabilities
- Supports Booting Windows Server 2008, Windows 2003 Standard, Enterprise, and Enterprise R2 (32-bit and x64) from iSCSI Storage
- Uses the Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator
- Microsoft supported solution
- Able to outperform dedicated iSCSI HBAs
- Extends MPIO features (load-balancing and failover) to iSCSI Boot
- Boot Virtual Machines From iSCSI Storage
- Microsoft Virtual Server
- VMware
- Adds crash dump support for iSCSI boot
- VSS-enabled System Copy to iSCSI target
- Supports Specialized NICs Where Appropriate
- Advanced NICs/Accelerators requiring NDIS filter drivers
- 10 GbE NICs
- Conforms to the Latest iSCSI Draft (20)
- CHAP Authentication, target re-direction, etc.
- Centralized Management and Administration of iSCSI Boot Clients
- All configuration done from winBoot/i Management Console
- Auto-Discovery of New Client Machines (MAC Addresses)
- Clone boot parameter records for rapid configuration
- Assign Up to Ten (10) iSCSI Boot Targets Per Server
- Assigned from winBoot/i Management Console
- Present alternate boot targets as menu-selectable at boot time
- Automatically failover to alternative targets in order upon boot failure
- Use multi-pathing during the boot process
- winMigr8™ Utility Facilitates Boot Image Migration
- Copy boot images from physical to virtual and back to physical server
- Automatically handle routine migration related changes (e.g., different NICs)
- Works with Microsoft’s Sysprep Utility to Asset in the Duplication of Prepared Master Images
- Sysprepped images can be booted from ISCSI storage
- Boot From Shared (Read-only) Volume
- Write-Filter option allows multiple servers to boot from a single R/O boot image
- WinPE based Client Deployment Tool (CDT)
- Facilitates copying boot images to iSCSI LUNs
- Handles open file issues, provides better error handling
- MMC Interface (Snap-In)
- WMI-enabled API Interface
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How it Works
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Supported Platforms
Server Requirements
- Windows Server 2000 / 2003 / 2008, Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional
(winBoot/i Server is 32-bit only)
- Latest service packs should be installed on the server
- DHCP Server (Microsoft DHCP Server recommended, and capable of supporting DHCP option tags if using the emBoot PXE service on the same server as Microsoft DHCP)
Client Requirements
- PXE 2.x compliant network adapter
- Windows Server 2003 32-bit / x64, Standard or Enterprise, R2, or Windows Storage Server (Service Pack 1), or Windows Server 2008
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