Patent ID: 8489871

Claim:
A preboot execution environment (PXE) test device, comprising a microprocessor, one or more indicators, a network interface, a power connector, and a storage device, wherein: the network interface connects the PXE test device with a computer; the power connector connects an external power source to supply a voltage to the PXE test device; the storage device stores a boot loader and an embedded operating system, the microprocessor executes the boot loader and the embedded operating system to start the PXE test device; the one or more indicators indicate a power supply status and a starting status of the PXE test device; and the microprocessor further executes one or more programs stored in the storage device, the one or more programs comprising: a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) service module operable to send an offer packet which comprises an internet protocol (IP) address to a network card of the computer, in response to a DHCP Discover packet sent from the network card; a boot service module operable to send a DHCPACK packet, which comprises a filename of a remote boot mirror image and configuration parameters of trivial file transfer protocol (TFTP), to the network card in response to a DHCP REQUEST packet sent from the network card; and a TFTP service module operable to establish a connection between the PXE test device and the computer and send the remote boot mirror image to the computer according to the configuration parameters of TFTP, to remotely boot the computer for testing PXE of the network card, in response to a download request packet sent from the network card.