Pxe which I am sure quite a few linux users have enjoyed to boot diskless systems with applications such as ltsp, drbl, and a host of others Now gpxe makes thing more interesting. in that now you can boot from a web server. you could load a whole operating system, iscsi target, be a thin client, or even a virtual machine from a san over the internet. You do not have to be on the same subnet to use gpxe!!!! Perfect for schools (or any business to have portable media systems and the like. With that kind of advantage means you can have the same exact desktop, datafiles, and system settings from anywhere! With thousand of machines that are still IDE bound, this can be a godsend for a large business not to have to purchase sata or e-sata controllers and additional drives for thousands of machines to convert to the newer drive technology. That means lower electricity costs and lower burden on pc power supplies. Systems should then last longer replacement costs go down. You can put off purchasing equipment. Major companies are even using this technology for servers where there has to be a physical box to connect to specialty hardware. i.e security, manufacturing, or other needs. No more sneaker net to replace and re-image hard drives. You can even save on costs of updating machines. Just update one master image and updating is done. Except for the san/nas, we hope to be totally diskless soon.
Nothing to purchase...... just download gpxe and install. see http://www.ehterboot.org and http://www.romomatic.org
Boot diskless anywhere in the world.(internet access needed)
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