Re: 3 seconds boot time?
Not counting the intolerable startup time of the server hardware?
4-7 mins of POST/BIOS shenanigans before it even gets to the OS really puts the difference in boot times in perspective. At least it isn't as bad as my Cisco switch stack, which clocks over 22 min on a restart. We had a critical problem caused by the core switch firmware that required a during work hours restart and firmware update a few years back. Two core restarts, then the storage arrays, then the virtual servers, then getting the workloads unpaused. By the time the critical chain was back up more than 40 mins had passed. Redundant hardware is great, but downtime still happens in the real world, and in many cases is quite expensive.
My next rack refresh is going to the company that gets me from power on to login prompt in 60 seconds. Why is this a feature for embedded and desktop hardware and not for every run of the mill server and a BIOS/UEFI option? I'd like the one to choose if the hardware does a full hardware diagnostic a startup or a fast boot. If I shut the machine down cleanly (like when the UPS is running low after a series of weekend power cuts to our site) I should be able to quick boot safely at startup.
My site isn't running a power plant or the DOD. And frankly, the guys in the air traffic control system would probably love something that started in a reasonable amount of time AND did the full system checks, and would pay a princely sum for it.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
