Patent ID: 7363514

Claim:
A computer-based method for performing a boot from a storage network, comprising: providing on a communications network a first server storing sets of boot configuration information each linked to a network device identifier; providing on the communications network a second server storing an intermediate boot module; at the first server, receiving a request from a network device linked to the communications network and to a storage network, wherein the request comprises a hardware identifier for the network device; with the first server, returning to the network device one of the sets of boot configuration information having the network device identifier matching the hardware identifier in the request; processing the returned set of boot configuration information with the network device to determine an address for the second server; using the address for the second server to contact the second server and download the intermediate boot module on the network device; and running the intermediate boot module on the network device to read an image of an operating system on a disk device in the storage network using storage network transport mechanisms.