Patent ID: 7934086

Claim:
Apparatus comprising: a first computing device which traverses a first boot list specifying bootable devices from which bootable code is retrievable for execution; and a second computing device which is operatively accessible by said first computing device and which maintains a second boot list specifying bootable devices from which bootable code is retrievable for execution; wherein said first computing device is configurable to include a predetermined entry in the first boot list, and in response to traversing the first boot list and encountering the predetermined entry, said first computing device issues a command to said second computing device, and wherein the second boot list is traversed in response to the issued command in search of boot code which is to be executed on said first computing device; wherein said second computing device returns the second boot list to the first computing device in response to the command; and said first computing device traverses the returned second boot list in search of the boot code; wherein if a listed device is directly accessible by said first computing device, said first computing device attempts to retrieve the boot code from the directly accessible device, and if boot code is encountered, executes the boot code, and if a listed device is indirectly accessible, said first computing device issues a second command identifying the indirectly accessible device to the second computing device, wherein, in response to the second command, the second computing device attempts to retrieve the boot code from the indirectly accessible device, and if encountered, routes the boot code to said first computing device for execution thereon.