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Pre-OSTM PXE can do more than load the operating system or install a new system. It can also be used in a "pre-OS" environment. Pre-OS is the process of loading a small operating environment to perform a client management task before loading the final operating system from the local hard drive. For example, with pre-OS you can scan the hard drive for viruses. This guarantees that the client is not infected before it starts. For more information on pre-OS visit www.pre-os.com to learn about: "The When, What, Why, and How of Pre-OS". More Than Just Network Booting PXE includes an entire application-programming interface (API). The API offers several levels of protocol support: User Datagram Protocol (UDP), TFTP, and Universal Network Device Interface (UNDI). UDP and TFTP are the standard IP protocol layers. UNDI is the hardware dependent, low level interface that actually communicates with the NIC. Software vendors can use these APIs without their software needing to know what NIC is actually in the system. There is also a Universal NDIS driver (NDIS 2) available that uses PXE, eliminating the need for NIC-specific drivers. Most client management products use the API to communicate with management software on the server to access configuration information and additional files. This makes the client agents and utilities NIC independent, so the software can be used on a wider range of clients. Without PXE in the system, the agents would need different network drivers for each NIC supported. |