[gPXE] Can gPXE's network booting be classified as a VDI solution ?

[Shao Miller]

The Mad One wrote:
> Hello to everyone,
>
> I'm working on my ACS thesis & I'm stuck on how to classify gPXE's 
> network booting in the way it is used by a solution like DRBL 
> (Diskless Remote Boot in Linux).
>
> I know it's a sort of "OS streaming" solution, but can OS streaming be 
> classified as a VDI solution ?
> [because in some manner it is virtualizing the hard drive of the 
> desktop computer, but the OS  is running on bare metal (on that 
> desktop computer) not in a VM]
>
> VDI= Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.
>
> Please, help me solve this dilemma.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> TheMadOne.
>
>
Ugh.  "Virtualization": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtualization

Is the term used enough in the industry, do you think?  Its utterance 
makes potential consumers' eyes light up with "Yeah, I've heard about 
that stuff!"  Marketing.  Fluff.  Ugh.

With a BIOS INT 0x13 HDD I/O consumer like DOS, gPXE could very well be 
the sole disk provider and you could consider that to be OS streaming.

Where gPXE "hands off" and is no longer invoked to provide disk I/O, 
then perhaps you could consider gPXE to be a critical component as part 
of an OS streaming strategy.

But gPXE can also provide UNDI and PXE, functioning as a network stack 
for UNDI and PXE consumers, such as DOS or some pre-OS boot-loader or 
some other product.

But gPXE can also run scripts and Syslinux COMBOOT modules.

Surely gPXE is a network boot-loader...  But it's more. :)  I guess 
"gPXE is cool" isn't thesis material. :S

Where gPXE provides the disk for DOS, the OS would still be running on 
the client computer rather than on a server...  But then again, perhaps 
DOS is running solely to provide thin access as a terminal to server, 
where a majority of the processing and user experience would be hosted.

Perhaps you could classify it as "network boot-loader" and "network 
stack" and "SAN stack" for your discussion?
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