You can choose to use local or remote installation media when performing the Solaris installation. Which media option you choose to use will depend on the type of installation you want to perform:
Local Media.
When you choose to perform the installation using local media, you must use the Solaris 10 Distribution CD/DVD.
The local media method requires you to physically attach a CD/DVD-ROM drive to the USB connector on the front panel of the Sun Blade Server Module. For more information about attaching a CD/DVD ROM to a Sun Blade Server Module, see Attach USB Device to Server Module.
Remote Media
When you choose to perform the installation using remote media, you can use one of the following installation media: Solaris 10 Distribution CD/DVD, customer-provided ISO CD-image, or customer-provided JumpStart installation image.
A JumpStart installation can help you eliminate some or most of the manual tasks of setting up the Solaris Operating System for the first time on multiple systems. For more information about using JumpStart, see Solaris 10 Installation Guide: Custom JumpStart and Advanced Installations (Sun part number: 817-5506-12) (http://docs.sun.com).
The remote media method does not require you to be physically near the server. You can choose to boot the installation media over the network via a virtual drive or PXE client:
Boot installation media via virtual drive
A virtual drive refers to the drive being emulated. This can include a remote CD/DVD drive or an ISO image located on a network share. If you choose to boot the installation media via a virtual drive, you must list the virtual drive as the first temporary boot device in the BIOS (or select it manually by pressing F8 during the install process).
Boot installation media via PXE Client
A PXE client refers to the computer booting the installation media via PXE (Intel Preboot Execution Environment). The installation media uses the PXE specification implemented on the Sun Blade 8000 Series Modular Systems. Specifically, the PXE technology provides the server with the capability to boot Solaris over the network using the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).
Note that when you install Solaris from remote media via a PXE-based network, you will need to configure the PXE network interface card as the temporary boot device. Instructions for configuring the PXE network interface card as the temporary boot device are provided in the procedure Install Solaris 10 OS via PXE.
Some of the hardware and software requirements to install Solaris using remote media include:
Network connection to both the Chassis Monitoring Module (CMM) and Sun Blade Server Module within the Sun Blade 8000 Series. For information about how to configure network parameters for the Sun Blade 8000 Series, see Configure Sun Blade 8000 Series Management Network.
Properly configured network install server that specifies one or more Sun Blade Server Modules (or SAN devices) as the install targets. For more information about install targets, see Choose Installation Target.