Patent ID: 8775587

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a network; a network-accessible storage device coupled to the network and storing operating system data; and a diskless computer coupled to the network, the diskless computer comprising: a plurality of physical network adapters coupled to the network, a first physical network adapter among the plurality of physical network adapters configured to handle operating system critical storage operations; and a processing unit coupled to the plurality of physical network adapters and configured to host the operating system and at least one application, wherein the processing unit is configured to direct operating system critical storage operations for the operating system over the first physical network adapter, and wherein the processing unit is further configured to dynamically select a physical network adapter from among the plurality of physical network interfaces to communicate network data for the application by attempting to use the first physical network adapter to communicate the network data for the application only if no other physical network adapter among the plurality of physical network adapters is available to communicate the network data for the application as a result of the first physical network interface being configured to handle operating system critical storage operations, wherein the operating system critical storage operations are selected from the group consisting of system volume-related operations, page swapping-related operations, operations associated with retrieving operating system program code for the operating system, operations associated with retrieving driver program code for the operating system, operations associated with retrieving library program code for the operating system, operations associated with retrieving extension program code for the operating system, operations associated with operating system configuration or registry data, or operations that if delayed adversely impact operating system stability.