Boot ROM

I would like to know what is Boot ROM, its requirements, its features, where can we implement this thing. And everything regarding Boot ROM. Hope you will clear my doubts and help me to show correct path. Thank You.

Sussane,

A Boot Rom is usually a memory chip which contains software that allows a device to start up or boot.

Boot Roms are implemented in nearly all computer devices, routers, switches and any other similair device that would require some special software in order to 'kick-start' it.

Boot roms are usually small in physical size and capacity, so you would expect a typical boot rom to hold upto a few hundred KB's.

Here is an example where you would find a boot rom and what it would be used for:

Network cards: Some come with special boot roms that hold not more than 50kb's. These boot roms are used in diskless workstations where there is no hard drive or operating system installed. The pc is switched on, the network card loads the software from the boot rom and is able to connect to a central server and download the operating system so the system can boot.

Hope that helps !

Chris P.

Thanks a lot Chris for clearing my doubts. Hope u would come up with more important and real life implemented tutorials. Thank You.

Hi there,

I read the part above, and began to think about the differend ways I could use them. I was wondering whether this system was usefull or not. Does it actually work? Is it fast enough to download a complete OS, or is it a nice thought that does not work in real life... Anywayz, if it really is usefull, how could someone like me get it going? I have some nics, and some lost bootproms I found upon some old nics.... Can I use them, and how? Where doe I get the software, or do I need a bootprom write of some kind?
Please help me out,
Thank you.

SixFive,

In today's superfast and high tech networks, there are very few places you will find diskless workstation with Bootproms installed.

In most cases they still exist in old outdated networks which would cost an arm and a leg to upgrade to today's standards, and for this reason, most companies just keep using them as is, until they have no alternative but to upgrade their network.

The most popular applications I've personally seen for these bootprom are in Novell Netware networks with NetWare 3.12 or 4.1 server version. Workstations in these networks boot into the DOS operating system which is located on the file server and run special terminal emulation programs.

I should also let you know that I've never seen a similar setup for the older Windows operating systems (3.11) since it would be impossible to implement for Windows 95 and above.

So, my conclusion is that its probably nothing more than a waist of time playing with such equipment.

Cheers mate,

Hi,

Lately I've come across a website named www.etherboot.org . It contains details about bootrom and also ways to boot diskless clients. Actually I was not able to perform the above experiment as Im busy. So Im not able to conclude whether it is faster than booting from hard disk or not. But in the article they have mentioned its advantages over the regular workstation. I wish if the Admin can experiment it out and if possible give his opinion about it.