# Network Boot



## austinm6 (Jul 23, 2009)

I have a Windows Server 2003 and want to boot my other machines over LAN how do i do this?


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## ThePrutser (Oct 13, 2007)

WakeOn LAN utility (not a default windows 2003 utility)? You will need the MAC addresses of every machine you want to WakeOn LAN. Futhermore, wakeon lan must be supported by the network card of the computers and also the function must enabled. 

My personal experience is that WakeOn LAN doesn't always work.


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## wlraider70 (Jun 1, 2009)

are you asking about booting as in starting the computer so it can load its OS? 
or booting as in the network provides the OS like booting from a CD?


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## austinm6 (Jul 23, 2009)

I want to set it up so the server supplies the OS and then the clients have no harddrive qnd boot over the network from the server.


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## skinnywhiteboy (Jan 26, 2001)

austinm6 said:


> I want to set it up so the server supplies the OS and then the clients have no harddrive qnd boot over the network from the server.


What you are describing is called a "Thin Client."


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## kkurkowski (Oct 22, 2007)

WakeOnLAN just tells another computer to power on remotely.


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## austinm6 (Jul 23, 2009)

How do I setup a thin client I windows server 2003?


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## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

HP offers thin client solutions.

http://www.hp.com/sbso/solutions/pc_expertise/article/thinclients_consider.html


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## digitalsatori (Apr 28, 2010)

Thinstation (http://www.thinstation.org/) may do the job. If you want to use current PCs to automatically boot to a network server, fire up an OS in memory, and connect to a Terminal Service server, this would be my suggestion.

Thinstation can be configured to use PXE booting to download a linux OS and use RDesktop (a linux app that allows a linux machine to connect to a Microsoft Terminal Server). Best of all, it's open source.

However, using a thin client is something that requires other considerations aside from being able to boot without a hard drive. Your bandwidth will probably be your biggest obstacle, depending on how your network is configured. Uptime would be another concern: using Terminal Services as your OS, if the network goes down, so does everything else.

What are you trying to accomplish/avoid with this solution? We could probably give better advice with more details.


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## austinm6 (Jul 23, 2009)

What I really want to do is set up the OS install disk on the server and boot to that then install it on the clents via network.


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## digitalsatori (Apr 28, 2010)

Ah. In that case, you'll want RIS. 

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb742378.aspx
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304992
http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/w2k3/W2K3_RIS.htm


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## vartech (Apr 30, 2010)

Do you want to boot from the network as network mode or what?


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## skinnywhiteboy (Jan 26, 2001)

Then you would want to set up Remote Installation Services on your network.


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## austinm6 (Jul 23, 2009)

Thanks for all the help its up and running. Just need to setup a domain!


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## Jbirk (Jan 15, 2005)

You may find Windows Deployment Services (WDS) better than Remote Installation Services (RIS).

Either way, you get DHECP, TFTP, & BOOTP working together to PXE boot systems.


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