Windows Server 2003 boot from SAN

Windows Server 2003 supports booting from either an iSCSI or AoE SAN. You cannot install directly to the SAN target; you must first install Windows Server 2003 to a physical disk.

Start by installing Windows Server 2003 to a physical disk. It is best to use an external USB, FireWire, or eSATA disk; this will make later stages easier.

When installing, use a small partition (around 4GB) rather than the whole disk. At the partitioning screen:

press C to create a partition and enter 4096 as the size (in MB). You should then see a screen that looks like:

You can now press Enter to install Windows Server 2003 to this partition. The rest of the installation will proceed as normal.

Now you must select whether you will use iSCSI or AoE as your SAN technology:

• Add iSCSI boot support to Windows Server 2003

• Add AoE boot support to Windows Server 2003