emBoot Extends Diskless Boot Capabilities for Microsoft Vista and Hyper-V

emBoot Inc., in delivering network boot capabilities, announced new functionality in its winBoot/i v2.5 iSCSI boot solution.

winBoot/i provides a centrally managed SAN Boot solution using standard Ethernet NICs that allows customers to reduce deployment and lifecycle operating costs for servers and PCs, reduce datacenter power and cooling requirements, and improve system resiliency, availability, flexibility, and recoverability.

New functionality in winBoot/i v2.5:

• Ability to boot Windows Vista Enterprise (SP1) from iSCSI storage — delivering support for the Microsoft diskless / remote boot initiative. Customers licensed for Windows Vista Enterprise now have a diskless implementation option for a centrally managed remote boot environment that leverages their investment in iSCSI storage.
• Ability to boot Microsoft Hyper-V guest virtual machines from iSCSI storage not directly exposed to the Hyper-V host.  Virtual machines can now be booted from iSCSI storage exposed by the software initiator within the guest VM.  The Hyper-V hypervisor host containing those virtual machines can also be booted from iSCSI SAN. The combination provides a complete diskless environment for the Microsoft Virtualization technology, possible with standard Ethernet NICs.
• Hardware-independent P2V2P migration for Microsoft Vista Enterprise and Server 2008 clients using winBoot/i’s winMigr8 technology. winBoot/i v2.5 clients can be quickly moved from physical to Microsoft/VMware virtual machines — and back — in under 5 minutes, regardless of size of the installed OS.  The same technology also provides the capability to build hardware-independent boot-from-iSCSI images — one single image can be used by both a virtual and physical machine.

 
These new capabilities are in addition to the already announced functionality in winBoot/i v2.5 — including the ability to install Windows Server 2008 directly from DVD to iSCSI storage and host-side persistence when booting multiple devices from a single shared iSCSI boot image.

"With winBoot/i v2.5 we are providing compelling new functionality to desktops, blade servers, and virtualized environments," said George Kostiuk, CEO of emBoot. "Our new migration capabilities open up innovative possibilities for disaster recovery and deployment strategies."

About winBoot/i
winBoot/i utilizes Microsoft’s iSCSI architecture to allow the booting of any Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Vista Enterprise (SP1) devices using existing low-cost Ethernet adapters versus substantially more expensive host bus adapters (HBAs). winBoot/i is available today from a growing worldwide network of partners including Integrators, Distributors, OEMs, and iSCSI storage vendors.

emBoot Inc.