CCBoot

User Manual

Youngzsoft 2019

System Requirements
1. Server OS System Requirements
CCBoot server can be run on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8, Windows 8.1,
Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2016 Build 1607.
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 2012 R2 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. (Using 32 Bit OS is not recommended if you have more than 8 GB RAM)

CCBoot server can also be run on Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2016 Build
1607 (do not use any higher build as it does not have a GUI).

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 scans the system and creates high
disk activity causing clients to lag and games starts to loading 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, 6 to 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

3) Only 2x1 TB SSD raid 0 for gamedisk.

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 RAID 0, 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 RAID 0.

3) Two SSD for write-back disk (256+ GB)

Note: For 25 - 30 users, 1 Write Back disk is enough, for 30+ users, use 2 Write Back disk.
We do NOT recommend using 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.

Raid 0 from SSD for writeback do not improve performance because for random read/write

IOPS will not increase, raid 0 on ssd increase only sequential read/write speed.

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. Also, do not use SSD for few roles because it will

reduce the performance. Choose a SSD with high read/write speed. Faster SSD for writeback

results in better performance for clients. We recommend to use SSD with IOPS for random

read/write more than 90K (for example : Samsung EVO series).

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 1 SATA HDD and 6

SSD . 1 SATA for system OS, 2 SSD for game disks, 1 SSD for Image disk, 2 SSD for writeback

disks and 1 SSD for cache.

Network:

1 Gigabit Ethernet or 2 x 1 Gigabit Ethernet team network. We recommend Intel and Realtek 1

GbE Series.
For 10-15 PCs, use 1 GbE on server and for 20-30 PCs, use 2 x 1 GbE on server.

Use CAT 6 Cable for best performance, can use CAT 5e for smaller deployment of 10-20 PCs.

For network switch, please use 1 GbE unmanaged switch.

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​.

Sample 1:

Motherboard : Asrock Z370 Extreme4

Processor : Intel Core i7-8700

Memory : 32 GB DDR4 RAM

SSD : 4 pcs 256GB Samsung EVO

SATA HDD : 1 500gb seagate HDD for Server OS/Backup Files

SATA HDD : 2* 1 Terabyte Western Digital Caviar Black

Casing : Any Model (Full tower for much better ventilation)

Power Supply : Any Model/Brand of True rated 650 Watts

UPS : Any Brand

If you want to use only 1 server for more than 100 PCs up to 200 PCs then refer the following

hardware requirements.

1. Server OS: 1 x 250 GB SSD

2. Image Disk: 1 x m.2 250GB or higher SSD

3. Writeback disk: 8 x 250 GB SSD

4. Game disk: 4 x 500GB in RAID 0

5. LAN: 2 x 10 gigabit network cards

6. RAM: 64-128 GB ram

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 1709 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 specifications of client hardware then starting CCBoot 

version 20160707 you can ​create one single image​ for all d
​ ifferent hardware specification​.  

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​ ( build 1903 have some issues with PXE booting, please use

build 1809, until Microsoft fix it)

10. Cent OS 6.5 and newer x32 and x64​ . (Others not fully tested)

Note: If there are two or more than two specifications 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 (Wi-Fi network cards).
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 and 8th Generation
CPU and boards are also supported)
7. Sometimes 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: Boot from USB lan is not supported. Also, Zero clients like NComputing Zero clients are
not support as clients.
Note: Killer NIC E2200, E2400, E2500 are supported in CCBoot new version since 20161221

CCBoot support recently released Ryzen CPU and motherboards for it as well. Ryzen 1700,
1700x have the best price to performance ratio for users.
CCBoot supports all Intel processors including the Skylake as well as the new KabyLake
processors and the 7th and 8th gen processors and the respective 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 won't
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.

4. Unmanaged network switch, "Tp-link, Toto-link, Pro-link, D-link" these network switch are

plug in play no configuration required.

5. Routers with QoS function available, it will permit you use bandwidth monitor to check for the

download currently active on the specific system.

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.
Run CCBoot Server on Linux
Download centos bittorrent file from

http://centos.someimage.com/6.4/isos/x86_64/CentOS-6.4-x86_64-bin-DVD1to2.torrent.

Download torrent by utorrent.

Install centos on a PC.

Login with root.

Open terminal command window.

Wget http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/SRPMS/epel-release-6-8.src.rpm.

Wget http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/6/i386/epel-release-6-8.noarch.rpm.

Rpm -Uvh epel-release*rpm.

Yum install "epel-release".

Yum list all.

Yum update.

Yum install "wine* -y".

System -> administration -> firewall -> disable.

Winecfg (if required install xxx HTML, click cancel).

Windows version => Windows 2008 R2.

Copy CCBoot files for Linux to "/root/ccboot".

Run "ccboot.exe" from "/root/ccboot".

How to run CCBoot as service?

edit /etc/rc.local

WINEDEBUG=-all /usr/bin/wine /root/ccboot/ccboot.exe -service &

reboot

Now CCBoot can run as service. If you want to remove service, just remove the link in

/etc/rc.local
How to stop CCBoot service?

/usr/bin/wine /root/ccboot/ccboot.exe -stop

How to add game disk?

You can add hdd in Linux and add drive in winecfg. Now CCBoot can recognize the game disk.

Note: CCBoot cannot read disk in Linux. But you can transfer the game disk to a vhd file, and

then add vhd file as game disk like image. For example, create a vhd image in game disk, and

load the vhd as game disk.

Attach a new hdd in Linux and then run the following commands.

fdisk /dev/sdb

enter

enter

mkfs -t ext3 /dev/sdb1

mkdir /game_drive

mount /dev/sdb1 /game_drive

nano /etc/fstab

/dev/sdb1 /game_drive ext3 defaults 1 2

winecfg
Figure 1-1
Figure 1-2
Figure 1-3

Figure 1-4
Figure 1-5
Diskless Boot with UEFI BIOS
Build 0412 supports booting with UEFI BIOS. Follow the following steps to boot with UEFI BIOS.
1) First of all, you need to enable UEFI. To do so:
a) Open Boot tab and then select CSM (Compatibility Support Module) (Figure 1).

Figure 1

b) Once CMS is selected, enable for all devices UEFi (Figure 2).
 Figure 2

2. Then enable booting from Network. To enable booting from network, open "Advanced" tab,
then "Onboard Devices Configuration" and enable PXE OPROM (Figure 3).
 Figure 3

3. Once enabling booting from network, go back to " Advanced" tab and open "Network Stack
Configuration", then enable Network Stack and IPv4 PXE Support (Figure 4).

Figure 4
4. Now press F10 for save changes. If everything is right, after reboot you will see it (Figure 5).

Figure 5

Note: UEFI BIOS different from one board to another. So, having all boards screenshot is not
possible. However, the general settings that need to be done in the UEFI is mentioned above.

Advantages of CCBoot Diskless Solution

Compared with other diskless solution, CCBoot has its own obvious advantages.
1. SSD Cache Function
CCBoot is equipped with good cache performance, it supports physical memory and SSD cache.
With SSD cache function, the server runs faster and stable, and the clients' read and write speed will
be superior to local HDD.
2. Windows Server 2012, 2016 and Windows 8, 8.1, 10 Supported
Windows 2012 or 2016 can be used as CCBoot Server OS.Meanwhile, it supports diskless boot
Windows 8, 8.1 and Windows 10.
3. Client with 64 BitOS Supported
CCBoot supports diskless boot 64 bit OS of Windows XP,Windows 2003, Vista, Windows 7,
Windows 2008, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows10.
4. Support ​Windows Domain
CCBoot can perfectly work with Windows Active Directory (domain).One can login with domain
account, then load and store personal data on thepersonal disk.
5. Support VHD, VHDX Format
CCBoot works with VHD and VHDX format image very well.
6. Support ​Graphic Boot
CCBoot supports customizing the boot graphic. You can set the graphic boot menu as you like.
7. Support multiple OS boot
You can boot multiple client images with CCBoot, at client PC users can choose with OS to boot
from.
8. Support ​VLAN
CCBoot can be used on complex networks, such as dual NICs and dual LANs, dual LANs segment,
and even VLAN. VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) is an emerging data exchange technology,
which divides the LAN equipment into small network segments logically to complete a virtual work
group.
9. Load Balance
If you have 100+ client on a single server then performance at client may degrade with large
writeback and network saturation, however CCBoot supports Load Balance function which
effectively allow clients to choose which server to boot from thus offloading load from any single
server.
Note: Two or more server is required.
10. ​Failover withSuper Path Function
Super Path can realize two servers working at the same time.If one server has stoppage, the other
one will take place of it without affecting and restarting clients.
Note: We do not recommend this, instead use load balance.
11. Compatible with ​Third Party DHCP
CCBoot is compatible with third party DHCP and TFTP, which makes the management become
more convenient.
For more functions, please refer to the main features on ​CCBoot homepage​.

Differences of CCBoot Solution and VDI Mode

Question:
What is the difference between CCBoot as a solution and the Citrix N-series thin clients?

Reply:
Citrix solution adopts the VDI mode, which is a Remote Desktop mode that all applications are
running on the server, the client is equivalent to be the remote control desktop, and the server acts
as a virtual machine of the client remote control the server. But for CCBoot, all applications are
actually running on the client. The differences are:
Citrix (VDI mode) has higher requirements on the server.
For Citrix, the client system is not actually running in the local machine, instead, it is running on the
server's virtual machine.
Citrix, VMWare and Microsoft solutions all adopt the VDI mode. VDI mode can be useful, but it is not
always the solution, it is running on the server's virtual machine, which is hard to get the real
expriences on the clients. Besides, there may be a number of configurations, and probably
application loadings aren't work or poorly performing on VMWare. VMWare produces 20% of a raw
system's performance, but unique device connected to the system cannot be accessed through
VMWare (VDI mode).

CCBoot Client on Windows 7 Embedded

CCBoot Client can be run on Windows Embedded Standard 7. To avoid some problems during the
process, you can check the following notes.
1. Compared with the full version of Windows, Windows Embedded needs Microsoft updates.
2. Activate the iSCSI initiator of Microsoft, and then go to the Device Manager and install the iSCSI
initiator.
3. If you have problem when configure more than one image (different languages) to boot on the
same physical machine, please check whether there’s a problem with active directory.
Go to the local security policy -> Local policies -> security options, and look for the parameters
"Domain members: Disable machine account password change", this parameter must be activated.
Take English version image and French versioin image for example, in the English version, that
parameter is activated by default, but in the French one, that parameter is always disabled, so
please activate it.
4. If you failed to diskless boot multiple specifications with one image by using the provided drivers in
CCBoot PNP tool, please try the NIC drivers of their manufacturers.
5. For the updates and drivers of Windows Embedded Standard 7, you also have to consider the OS
(Windows 7 32bit or 64bit).

Thanks for Simon Leroux providing this solution

CCboot server minimum requirements

Server hardware minimum requirements

This server hardware can handle 10 to 25 clients if you have more than 25 clients refer to this
Link

1.CPU: Dual Core and up, Amd or Intel

2.RAM: minimum 8G to 16 GB

3.Motherboard: that support has 4 - 8 SATA port (6.0 Gbps recommended)

4.Hard drive Disk: 2x 500GB and 1 TB

5.SSD: drive for better performance

1 x 500g partition to 2 half for “Server Os” and half for “Client Image”

1 x SSD use for image os (optional)

1 x SSD use for writeback client (additional 1 SSD writeback if 25 to 50 clients)

1 x SSD use for ssd cache

1 x SSD Pcie Nvme for much faster performance 32gbps speed

2 x 1 TB HDD in Raid 0 for game disk

6.Format all drive to 32k allocation unit.

7.Use windows server 2008 R2 or windows 7

Recommended Motherboard

Gigabyte h81m-s1 or h1m-ds2

Asus h81m-d plus

Asrock h81m-dg4

Gigabyte B85m-d3h-a

Asus b85m-gamer

Asrock b85m

Asus a88xm-a

Asrock f2ma88m-hd+

Msi h110m-vh plus

Gigabyte h110m-ds2
Asus h81m-d plus ​Click here​ for specification
Asrock h81m-dg4 ​Click here​ for specification
Gigabyte B85m-d3h-a ​Click here​ for specification
Asus b85m-gamer ​Click here​ for specification
Asrock b85m ​Click here​ for specification
Asus a88xm-a ​Click here​ for specification
Asrock f2ma88m-hd+ ​Click here​ for specification
Msi h110m-vh plus ​Click here​ for specification
Gigabyte h110m-ds2 ​Click here​ here for specification