Network- and server-independent operations

The Embedded Configuration Toolkit is designed to configure and generate operating systems for embedded systems that can work independently of servers. Installation and or boot servers are required for installation and booting purposes. However, even a diskless client can work independently of servers once it is booted.

The level of independence from servers is dependent on the embedded application itself. For maximum efficiency, applications should always be designed to be aware of the network status (whether it is present or not). If the network becomes unavailable, the application should then be able to automatically switch to some sort of buffering system so that it can continue to work. When the network becomes available again, any buffers can be downloaded to the relevant servers. This technique will not be possible in all environments.

In addition to robustness, network and server independent operations provide performance gains over diskless configurations that use distributed root and swap filesystems.