[aclug-L] Re: Possible meeting topic--What makes a computer

[Steven Saner <ssaner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Feb 4, 2008, at 11:19 AM, Michael Holmes wrote:

> What I read that sun is doing, is the pc is a paper weight and when  
> you turn
> it on, it goes to the server and loads the os then at that point you  
> choose
> your application and it downloads.  I am speaking of modern  
> applications.
> My thought is that a virus cannot live, it the entire os dies each  
> day.  It
> is just a thought anyway. It just seemed like an interesting  
> subject, I was
> reading about sun on tech republic, I wondered if anything similar  
> was going
> on with Linux.  I myself have discovered ssh sessions, they are neat  
> but
> offer challenges for security reasons.

The idea of booting a Linux kernel from a server, as well as mounting  
the rest of the OS from a remote server, has certainly been done. Now,  
a specific application of said mechanism may or may not have been  
done. Here is a starting point if you are interested in trying it out.

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Network-boot-HOWTO/index.html

Given that it is Linux we are talking about, I'm not sure that virus  
prevention would be the primary motivation. Maintaining a stable  
configuration would seem more likely.

Steve


>
>
> Michael Holmes
>
> 708 West 46th St. South
>
> Wichita, KS 67217
>
> (316)522-3637(h)
>
> (316)619-7339(c)
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>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: discussion-bounce@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:discussion- 
> bounce@xxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf Of Jonathan Hall
> Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 9:26 AM
> To: discussion@xxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [aclug-L] Re: Possible meeting topic--What makes a computer
>
> What exactly is your question?  Booting a PC from the network is not
> really really fundamentally any different than booting it from local
> media.
>
> The minimum required to boot a "PC" (by which I mean any "IBM-PC"
> compatible computer) is probably about 256kb of RAM (maybe less, if  
> you
> can find a DOS network driver that will fit in 128kb or 64kb of  
> RAM), an
> 8088 or 8086 CPU, and a NIC with a boot ROM.  With that, you could  
> do a
> DOS netboot from a TFTP server, and get a C:> prompt.
>
> If you're talking about something more "modern"... If you want to boot
> Linux on a PC, you need about 8mb of RAM, same as when booting from a
> hard drive.
>
>
> Michael Holmes wrote:
>> Group;
>>
>> I was sitting here in my office.  I know sun Microsystems is  
>> dabbling with
>> this, but here it goes anyway.  What is the minimum required to  
>> boot a pc?
>> What is the server supplied the operating system, the hard drive  
>> contains
>> just the kenel image and boot loader and probably a /home directory.
>> Everything else resides on the server and the "modules" are loaded  
>> into
>> memory as needed.  What's everyone's thoughts? Does anybody know if  
>> there
> is
>> already a group working on this task? (other than sun)  As  a company
> goes,
>> you not only could be an ISP, but, you could lease or rent an  
>> operating
>> system to users.
>>
>> Michael Holmes
>>
>> 708 West 46th St. South
>>
>> Wichita, KS 67217
>>
>> (316)522-3637(h)
>>
>> (316)619-7339(c)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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--
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Steven Saner
ssaner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx




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