System Requirements

Server OS System Requirements

CCBoot server can be run on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 ,Windows SBS 2008 (Windows Small Business Server 2008), Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2016 TP. It can even be run on Linux (not fully tested).

1. We recommend installing Windows 2008 Server R2 Enterprise Edition 64 bit with the latest service packs.

Note: If you are using recent hardware for server, then it may not have drivers for the motherboards or chipsets, thus in this case use Server 2012 R2.

2. The second choice is Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition 64bit.
3. The third choice is Windows 7 Ultimate Edition 64bit.

Notes: If you are using Windows 7 32 bit or Windows 2008 32 bit as CCBoot server OS, then you need to run "cmd -> bcdedit/set PAE Force Enable" with administrator permission to enable large memory access. If it is Windows 7 64 bit or Windows 2008 64 bit OS, then you do not need to run this command.

CCBoot server can also be run on Windows server 2012 or Windows Server 2016 TP.

Moreover, CCBoot server can also be run on Linux but this is not fully tested. If you want to run CCBoot Server on Linux, we recommend using Ubuntu or Cent OS with desktop mode. You need to install WINE in order to run CCBoot. You have to install and run WINE with root account. If you are using Cent OS, you have to install WINE from other rpm.

Note: Do not install antivirus on your server computer as it will do automatic scanning of the system often causing high read in the disk. This will cause clients to lag and game to load slow. 

Server Hardware Requirements

Here is the recommended server hardware for diskless boot with CCBoot.
CPU:
Intel Quad Core Processor (i3 or higher)
Motherboard:
Server motherboard that supports 16GB or more RAM, 8 or more SATA Ports.
RAM:

No. Of Clients	Server RAM
10 - 30	16 GB
30 -70	32 GB
70 - 100	64+ GB

For 100+ client PCs, We recommend to use 2 or more Servers with load balance.
Hard Disk: 
Before we go in details about the hard disk need for server, let’s know the different hard disk types in CCBoot.
Image disk: the hard disk that stores the client OS boot data. We call it as "image".
Game disk: the hard disks that store the game data.
Writeback disk: the hard disks that store the client write data. In diskless booting, all data are read and written to/from the server. So we need writeback disk to save the client's write data. Other products are also named it as "write cache".
SSD Disk: the hard disk that is used to cache game disk data. Caching game disk data in SSD Disk give client quicker access to game files as SSD is much faster than traditional HDD.
Required Hard Disks:
1) One SATA HDD is used for server OS (C:\) and CCBoot Server install (D:\).
2) One SSD for image disk - 256GB
2) Two SATA HDD are set up on RAID0 for Game Disk - 2 x 1TB or 2 x 2TB
We recommend to use Windows 2008 disk manager to setup RAID0 instead of hardware RAID in BIOS. We recommend to set SATA mode as AHCI in BIOS. Because AHCI is better for writeback disks' write performance. For more information, please refer to AHCI on wiki. In the BIOS, SATA mode can only be one of AHCI and RAID. If we set it as AHCI, the RAID function of the motherboard will be invalid. So we use Windows 2008 disk manager to setup RAID0. The performance is same as hardware RAID0.
Note: If you skip RAID0, the read speed of the game may become slow. But if the clients are less than 50 with SSD cache, it is OK to skip RAID0.
3) Two SSD for write-back disk (256+ GB)
Note: For 10 - 20 users, 1 Write Back disk is enough, for 20+ users, use 2 Write Back disk.
We do NOT recommend to use RAID for write-back disks. If one disk is broken, we can use the other one. If you use RAID for writeback disk, then, one disk breaks then it will cause all clients stop working. On the other hand, CCBoot will auto balance the writeback disk when you have more than one disks. Using two disks the write performance is better than using RAID. Using SSD as writeback disk is better than harddisk as SSD has good IOPS.
4) One SSD disk for SSD cache (256+ GB).Note: Do not use cheap SSD for writeback and SSD disk as they are unreliable and may cause clients to hang when the SSD gets corrupt. Choose a SSD with high read/write speed. Faster SSD for writeback results in better performance for clients. We recommed using Samsung EVO SSDs.
Note: Format all hard disk with 32K allocation unit except windows partition/disk , as it provides you the best performance. - Do Not skip this
Conclusion: You need to prepare 7 disks for the server normally. They are 3 SATA HDDs and 4 SSD . 1 SATA for system OS, 2 SATA for game disks, 1 for Image disk, 2 SSD for writeback disks and 1 SSD for cache.
Network:
1000Mb Ethernet or 2 * 1000 Mb Ethernet team network. We recommend Intel and Realtek 1000M Series.
Use CAT 6 Cable for best performance, can use CAT 5e for smaller deployment of 10-20 PCs
Important: Do not use PCI gigabit ethernet card on the server if you are planning to add NICs to give more bandwidth to client
If you want to add more NIC then find PCIe gigabit ethernet cards as they provide better bandwidth than PCI cards.

Client OS System Requirements

CCBoot supports diskless boot of the following OS systems:

1. Windows XP x32 and x64.
2. Windows 2003 x32 and x64.
3. Windows Vista x32 and x64.
4. Windows 7 x32 and x64.
5. Windows 2008/r2 x32 and x64.
6. Windows Server 2012/r2
7. Windows 8 x32 and x64.
8. Windows 8.1 x32 and x64
9. Windows 10 x32 and x64 (Latest build 1703 also supported)
10. Cent OS 6.5 and newer x32 and x64 . (Others not fully tested)

Note: If there are two or more than two specification of client hardware then starting CCBoot version 20160707 you can create one single image for all different hardware specification.

Client Hardware Requirements

If you want to use CCBoot for diskless boot of PC, the PC should has the following features:

1. The NIC should be PXE 2.x compatible network adapter. The NIC can be onboard or installed. For most up-to-date motherboard, the onboard NIC can support PXE 2.x. For example, Gigabyte and ASUS motherboard.
2. 1Gbps speed NIC. We DO NOT recommend using 100M NIC. The diskless boot speed will be slow and can only boot small amount XP workstations.
3. We recommend to use Realtek and Intel 1000M series NIC. We DO NOT recommend to use NVIDIA NIC. Since NVIDIA NIC is not stable in diskless booting. Some earlier and cheap Atheros NIC is also NOT recommended. They are not stable and have poor performance in diskless booting.
4. Till now, CCBoot CANNOT diskless boot with wireless NIC.
5. The minimum RAM size is 512M. We recommend the client to use 2G RAM for XP and 4G RAM for Windows 7.
6. CPU can be AMD or Intel, no specific requirements. (Note: Intel 7th Generation also supported)
7. Sometime when your motherboard has TPM module,it may prevent diskless booting, hence disable the TPM in the BIOS. This is mostly for the new motherboard that have this features.

Note: To disable TPM, after entering the BIOS, visit the Security tab and then set the TPM option to “Disabled”.
Note: Killer NIC E2200, E2400, E2500 are supported in CCBoot new version since 20161221

CCBoot supports Skylake as well as the new KabyLake processors and boards.
CCBoot has support for Intel NUC and mini PCs from multiple vendors such as Gigabyte, MSI, Asrock, etc.
Important: For NUC, only requirement that needs to be satisfied is that the NUC must have support to boot from legacy BIOS, if the NUC doesnot have support for boot in BIOS, you wont be able to boot from CCBoot.

Network Requirements

For better performance, we recommend Gigabit network environment (Server & Client NICs and Switches).

1. Normal or advanced router is OK. It only affects the Internet speed. But most routers has build-in DHCP service. It will be conflict with CCBoot DHCP service. You have to disable the DHCP service on the router.
2. Switch should be 1Gbps speed. If the switch is smart switch, you need to disable "flow control" option in the switch settings. This option will reduce the diskless boot speed. We recommend CISCO and HUAWEI switch.
3. CAT-5, CAT-5e and CAT-6 cable are all supported. But we recommend you to use CAT-5e and CAT-6 cable. CAT-5 cable has "far end crosstalk" problem and it will cause packet loss.

Advantages of CCBoot

CCBoot features all basic functions of diskless solutions. Compared to other diskless solution providers, CCBoot has its owns special functions below some of them are listed.
1. CCBoot server can be installed on the 64 bit windows operating, and compatible with Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2, 2012, and 2016.
2. CCBoot support Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 x64 bit client system.
3. CCBoot has SSD cache function. The memory cache is limited but RAM available on server, but the SSD drive have more space and are faster than HDD so it provide smoother game play in CCBoot system.
4. CCBoot can boot more clients with the same hardware specifications. A server with 32G RAM can boot upto 100 clients with proper server hardware.
5. CCBoot is super easy to learn and deploy. Newest version of CCBoot is easiest to deploy with only few mouse click.
6. Now, CCBoot has support for multi hardware profile to make true single image for multi specs.

How to Use Youngzsoft Setup Service

We provide setup service for the customers. The setup service is not free. Before you request setup service please check the following steps -

1. Purchase the license first from http://www.ccboot.com/purchase.htm.
2. Purchase the setup service from http://user.youngzsoft.com/buynow.php?id=8888.The setup fee is USD 10 each client. If you have 10 clients, you need to purchase 10 * 10 = 100 USD setup service. Enter 100 in the ‘# of PC’s” box. and click update.
3. Make payment. and follow the http://www.ccboot.com/wiki-system-requirements.htm and prepare the hardware both server and client.
4. Please prepare one client PC with HDD and Windows Operating System installed. It will be used to upload image.
5. Install Team Viewer on both server and client and send the server and client's Team Viewer ID and password to us via email.
6. Tell us your Skype/Facebook IM account, we will add you and contact you online easily.