Netboot Slowness

[Caist]

I have a dedicated macmini that is responsible for our netboot functions, booting to a image I created using AutoCasperNBI (I am using the modified rc.netboot).

I noticed when I began booting 12 machines to this server, it was relatively quick, machines 13 and higher are taking much much longer.

Is this a limitation of the server or the software? Would getting a MacPro greatly improve the functionality?

Thanks all!

[musat]

I've been wondering about this, but with the changes in (elimination of) imaging with High Sierra it probably won't matter to us for much longer.

[Chris_Hafner]

@Caist What sort of difference are you seeing? There's quite a bit to NetBoot when evaluating such things. The issue is that this is probably a result of limited bandwidth. This could be in the form of your switching network, caching on the MacMini, I/O limitations on the MacMini (either from low-performance HDD, insufficient RAM or a single Gig ethernet port. ) etc...

What are the specifics of your setup? (Age and config of the MacMini, Network setup, etc? I can happily NetBoot dozens of various Mac's simultaneously (I keep a software limit on my NetBoot servers at 50) and regularly boot 40-46 units. Then again, I have a LOT of hardware supporting that.

[Chris_Hafner]

@musat While I know this is the commonly accepted talking point, there's nothing definitive on this yet from Apple. An MDM/DEP only deployment solution, as Apple keeps hinting at won't work for those of us with the need a method for re-deploying computers in mass and at speed. Perhaps it will not be labeled "imaging" but there will be something.