[mythtv-users] [OT] Diskless front end (using PXE) - Fedora Core?

[Micah.Wedemeyer at gtri.gatech.edu]

Hi,

I'm getting ready to split my current Myth box (a combined
frontend/backend) into two separate machines.  As part of the split, I'm
planning to move to a diskless front-end configuration where it boots
over the network from the server.

I've checked in the BIOS and my soon-to-be frontend does indeed have
PXE, and LAN is an option for boot device.  So, on that front, I think
I'm in pretty good shape.

However, I'm not much of a Linux expert, and the distro I'm most
comfortable with is Fedora Core.  I used Jarod's guide to get my current
setup running, and I would probably follow it (or use FC4) when I split
to the client/server model.

My question is: Does anyone know how to setup a network boot using
Fedora Core?  From the client's perspective, I'd like to have it start
up and fetch grub or something to allow further booting.  From what I
understand, I can specify a NFS location in grub for the kernel and
such.

What I'm not clear on is how to install all the Fedora Core stuff in
such a way as to support 2 machines (the client and server) from a
single HDD.

Ideally, I'd like a way to share certain things (window manager,
applications like mysql, etc) between the different machines.  However,
there will also be things that could be distinct (kernel, modules,
X-windows settings, /proc filesystem, and such) since the 2 machines
will not be the same hardware.

A second and less ideal approach is to have nothing shared.  In this
case, both installations reside on the same partition but are completely
distinct.

The easiest, but least ideal, approach (that I know of) is to have
separate partitions for each machine.  In this setup, I could take the
HDD and partition it with multiple separate partitions representing each
machine.  Then I could physically connect the HDD to the client and
install FC on one partition.  I could transfer the HDD to the server and
install FC again on the other partition.  At that point I've got 2 fully
functional FC installations and I could use grub to choose which to go
to.

Am I making this too hard?  Is there an easier way that I'm just not
seeing?

Thanks,
Micah