What Is PXE Boot?_
Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) boot allows a server to start up from a network interface rather than a local drive, loading an OS image provided by a central server. In GPU data-center deployments, this is essential for rapidly installing the OS and drivers across many nodes without physical media. It streamlines the commissioning process by enabling automated, unattended provisioning of identical software stacks to all compute nodes.
Technical Details
PXE boot uses DHCP to assign an IP address and locate a boot server, then TFTP or HTTP to download a bootloader and OS kernel. The boot server typically hosts a customized OS image that includes GPU drivers and fabric management software. For large clusters, the network switch ports must be configured to allow PXE traffic, and the DHCP server must be set up with the correct options (e.g., next-server, filename).
How Leviathan Systems Works with PXE Boot
During rack bring-up, our field crew configures the PXE boot server and ensures each GPU node's BIOS is set to network boot first. We then power-cycle nodes in batches to provision them, verifying successful OS loading before proceeding to fabric testing.
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