Using sanboot --no-describe to boot iso image is extremely slow compare to memdisk

[ccy]

(2013-10-22 10:02)robinsmidsrod Wrote:  The only thing I can think of is that your web server doesn't support keep-alive or range-requests, which cause it to download the entire ISO every time it tries to access some part of it when using sanboot. But since your trying to boot WinPE, why aren't you using wimboot? There is a WinPE-specific howto here: http://ipxe.org/howto/winpe

I am using Apache httpd as web server. The KeepAlive is On by default.

The apache httpd access_log shows something that may help to rectify the problem.

Using syslinux/memdisk iso, the access_log shows:

Code:

192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:51:05 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 200 218308608 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"

If using sanboot for iso image, the access_log shows:

Code:

192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:50:06 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 206 63488 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"
192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:50:06 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 206 63488 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"
192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:50:06 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 206 32768 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"
192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:50:06 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 206 63488 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"
192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:50:06 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 206 63488 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"
192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:50:06 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 206 63488 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"
192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:50:06 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 206 63488 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"
192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:50:06 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 206 63488 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"
192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:50:06 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 206 63488 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"
192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:50:06 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 206 63488 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"
192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:50:07 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 206 63488 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"
192.168.0.74 - - [23/Oct/2013:08:50:10 +0800] "GET /windows.pe/win7_x64.iso HTTP/1.1" 206 63488 "-" "iPXE/1.0.0+ (6f43b)"

The first impression is the sanboot doesn't load the iso image as efficient as memdisk.

Is there any other configurations to set to make it work?

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(2013-10-22 10:02)robinsmidsrod Wrote:  The only thing I can think of is that your web server doesn't support keep-alive or range-requests, which cause it to download the entire ISO every time it tries to access some part of it when using sanboot. But since your trying to boot WinPE, why aren't you using wimboot? There is a WinPE-specific howto here: http://ipxe.org/howto/winpe

Thanks. My httpd.conf KeepAlive was off. If I switch it ON, it load faster now. However, it still slower than memdisk by about 20%. I think it is due to the buffer size allocated for partial read.