Diskless Boot For Windows
 

Anyone know any way to diskless boot a farm using windows?

The only way I know of to diskless boot Windows is using a CD. You can prepare a special CD boot version of Windows that contains whatever software you have (like Prime95) using this:
[url]http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/[/url]

But that would require you have a CD for each of your farm machines.

Jeff.

[QUOTE=Jeff Gilchrist]The only way I know of to diskless boot Windows is using a CD. You can prepare a special CD boot version of Windows that contains whatever software you have (like Prime95) using this:
[url]http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/[/url]

But that would require you have a CD for each of your farm machines.

Jeff.[/QUOTE]

Not to mention a separate license for each machine. A saw another tutorial online once about how to make Windows 98 boot disklessly, but it was pretty complicated and also required a license for each machine.

For diskless booting of farm machines, Linux is the way to go. Prime Monster wrote up a "how-to" guide on modding LTSP (Linux Terminal Server Project) for farming. It wasn't too complicated; I got my farm up and running and I'm a Linux newbie. His site's been down for a while but a while back I salvaged the stuff he wrote and attached it to a post in a ZIP file.

[QUOTE=PrimeCruncher]Not to mention a separate license for each machine. A saw another tutorial online once about how to make Windows 98 boot disklessly, but it was pretty complicated and also required a license for each machine.[/QUOTE]

Right, but that is implied with Windows. If you have a farm of disk-based machines running Windows, you would need a license for each machine as well. So if you are going to remove the disks, you would still have the licenses for all those machines, assuming it was a legal setup in the first place.

I agree with you that going Linux is much better for a diskless farm.

Jeff.

Do you have to have a seperate lic for each Win98 machine on each CD?

What if you have 3 machines and 1 CD (actually 3 copies of the same CD)? This assumes you have embedded the lic in the CD you create. This would put one Win98 lic to use on all 3 machines. But, as long as you hold the paper for 3 seperate lics, that makes it legit. Right? I would think that would pass an audit.

I know this works for my HP (non-windows) machines I admin at work.

[QUOTE=nomadicus]Do you have to have a seperate lic for each Win98 machine on each CD?

What if you have 3 machines and 1 CD (actually 3 copies of the same CD)? This assumes you have embedded the lic in the CD you create. This would put one Win98 lic to use on all 3 machines. But, as long as you hold the paper for 3 seperate lics, that makes it legit. Right? I would think that would pass an audit.

I know this works for my HP (non-windows) machines I admin at work.[/QUOTE]


I think that would be fine. Basically as long as you paid for each license...

Windows Diskless boot
 

Hi


Qualystem Technology provides Windows diskless boot utilities.

Diskless boot off a CD/DVD or off a LAN Server.

There are free versions of the Windows 9X diskless boot tools on [url]www.qualystem.com[/url].
I ran successfully some "mersenne applications" on such diskless nodes.

No technical issues running several diskless nodes off the same CD/DVD (or copies of it) or off the same HD image on the network (shared image). Legally speaking, you need valid Windows licences for all your nodes that run Windows, whether they are diskless or not

HTH

vivigatt wrote, Legally speaking, you need valid Windows licences for all your nodes that run Windows, whether they are diskless or not


Incomplete answer.
Read the NFR article, article 8, and 12 in the EULA's.(VS2003, Win2000v5)
You can use the software for demo, test, or evaluation purposes.
This EULA states: It over-rides any future agreements, made with sp's etc.

Since number crunching is testing the software, as well as hardware....
Other use, of the software not pertaining, would constitute a breach of the EULA. One could argue that a machine(providng you are crunching...) can test for an indefinate amount of time.

[QUOTE=TTn]vivigatt wrote, Legally speaking, you need valid Windows licences for all your nodes that run Windows, whether they are diskless or not


Incomplete answer.
Read the NFR article, article 8, and 12 in the EULA's.(VS2003, Win2000v5)
You can use the software for demo, test, or evaluation purposes.
This EULA states: It over-rides any future agreements, made with sp's etc.

Since number crunching is testing the software, as well as hardware....
Other use, of the software not pertaining, would constitute a breach of the EULA. One could argue that a machine(providng you are crunching...) can test for an indefinate amount of time.[/QUOTE]I would strongly recommend that no-one should rely on TTn for legal advice on this matter.

Paul

blah
 

I would strongly recommend that no-one should rely on Paul for any advice on this matter. Since he worked for microsoft, his opinion is compromised.

Paul,
I am completely correct in my statements, if you'd even bother to check the EULA.

[QUOTE=TTn]I would strongly recommend that no-one should rely on Paul for any advice on this matter. Since he worked for microsoft, his opinion is compromised.

Paul,
I am completely correct in my statements, if you'd even bother to check the EULA.[/QUOTE]
I agree, you are capable of quoting the EULA verbatim.

I strongly disagree that you are competent, in a sense that would stand up in court, to interpret the EULA and to give advice on what constitutes "testing" within the context of the EULA.

However, I am not a lawyer (though I have spent many hours in the company of members of the MS Legal team) and anyone who wishes to ignore my advice is, of course, free to do so. I disclaim any and all responsibility for the consequences.

Paul