Etherboot Etherboot is a software package for creating ROM images that can download code over an Ethernet network to be executed on an x86 computer.
Many network adapters have a socket where a ROM chip can be installed.
Etherboot is normally used for for booting PCs diskless. Clusters of compute servers. Various kinds of remote servers, e.g. a tape drive server that can be accessed with the RMT protocol. Machines doing tasks in environments unfriendly to disks. A user platform where remote partitions are mounted over the network and you are willing to accept the lower speed compared to disk.