Storage has been evolving throughout the history of computer systems. Storing both operating system state and data within the computer caused management challenges such as storage over provisioning, data duplication as well as expensive and ineffective backup solutions. Shifting data storage to Storage Area Networks (SAN) provided numerous advantages in both hard and soft dollar cost savings. The final evolution of storage management is to separate the boot disks from systems and turn them into stateless compute devices. The netBoot/i technology separates state from compute devices and allows them to run from iSCSI SAN. This provides solutions for:

• Managed Desktop - netBoot/i allows you to share read-only images across large numbers of desktop which keeps processing power closest to the users while centralizing the management of desktop. When software needs patched or upgraded, then only one image needs to be changed and all desktops will instantly receive the new software.
• Managed Servers and Blade Servers - netBoot/i separates system state from hardware which allows you to quickly provision new servers and move them easily to different hardware, placing the right workload at the right place at the right time.