Method and apparatus for operating system deployment

1. A method for deploying an operating system on a client, comprising:

downloading a boot configuration file;

downloading a boot kernel and boot loader specified in the boot configuration file;

booting the boot kernel on the client;

executing the boot loader, by the kernel, to download a ramdisk image from at least one of a plurality of servers, wherein the boot configuration file is configured such that load between the at least one of a plurality of servers is approximately even during downloading of the ramdisk image; and

mounting the ramdisk image in memory on the client, wherein the ramdisk image comprises the operating system,

wherein the ramdisk image is downloaded using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the boot configuration file is downloaded using Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP).

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining network boot parameters from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server;

downloading a boot file using the network boot parameters;

executing the boot file to determine the boot configuration file; and

searching for the boot configuration file, wherein the boot configuration file is associated with the client.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

creating a master image and an empty file;

obtaining a snapshot of the master image;

creating a filesystem on the empty file; and

copying the snapshot into the filesystem to obtain the ramdisk image.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the client is one of a plurality of clients in a grid computing system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ramdisk image is greater than one gigabyte in size.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ramdisk image is downloaded from the one of the plurality of servers specified in the boot configuration file.

7. A system for deploying an operating system on a plurality of clients, comprising:

a plurality of servers, wherein each of the plurality of servers comprises:

a plurality of boot configuration files, wherein each of the plurality of boot configuration files is associated with one of the plurality of clients and configured such that load on each of the plurality of servers is approximately even during the downloading of the ramdisk image by the plurality of clients, and

a ramdisk image; and

the plurality of clients, wherein each of the plurality of clients comprises a memory, wherein each of the plurality of clients is configured to:

search for the one of the plurality of boot configuration files associated with the client,

download the one of the plurality of boot configuration files associated with the client,

download the boot kernel and boot loader specified by the one of the plurality of boot configuration files associated with the client,

boot the boot kernel on the client,

execute the boot loader, by the kernel, to download of a ramdisk image, and

mount the ramdisk image in memory on the client, wherein the ramdisk image comprises the operating system.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of clients is further configured to:

obtain network boot parameters from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server;

download a boot file using the network boot parameters; and

execute the boot file to determine the one of the plurality of boot configuration files associated with the client.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the ramdisk image is downloaded using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and the boot configuration file is downloaded using Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP).

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the ramdisk image is greater than one gigabyte in size.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the ramdisk image is downloaded from one of the plurality of servers specified in the boot configuration file associated with the one of the plurality of clients.

12. A computer readable medium containing instructions for deploying an operating system on a client, the instructions comprising functionality to:

use Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) to download a boot configuration file;

download a boot kernel and boot loader specified in the boot configuration file;

boot the boot kernel on the client;

execute the boot loader, by the kernel, to download a ramdisk image from at least one of a plurality of servers, wherein the boot configuration file is configured such that load between the at least one of a plurality of servers is approximately even during downloading of the ramdisk image, and wherein the ramdisk image is downloaded using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP); and

mount the ramdisk image in memory on the client, wherein the ramdisk image comprises the operating system.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 12 , further comprising instructions to:

obtain network boot parameters from a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server;

download a boot file using the network boot parameters;

execute the boot file to determine the boot configuration file; and

search for the boot configuration file, wherein the boot configuration file is associated with the client.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 12 , further comprising instructions to:

create a master image and an empty file;

obtain a snapshot of the master image;

create a filesystem on the empty file; and

copy the snapshot into the filesystem to obtain the ramdisk image.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the client is one of a plurality of clients in a grid computing system.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the ramdisk image is greater than one gigabyte in size.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the ramdisk image is downloaded from the one of the plurality of servers specified in the boot configuration file.