Extensible Firmware Interface Specification
368 12/12/00 Version 1.02
NBP
See Network Boot Program.
Network Boot Program
A remote boot image downloaded by a PXE client using the Trivial File Transfer
Protocol or the Multicast Trivial File Transfer Protocol.
Page Memory
A set of contiguous pages. Page memory is allocated by AllocatePages() and
returned by FreePages().
Partition
See System Partition.
Partition Discovery
The process of scanning a block device to determine whether it contains a Partition.
PC-AT
Refers to a PC platform that uses the AT form factor for their motherboards.
Pool Memory
A set of contiguous bytes. A pool begins on, but need not end on, an “8-byte” boundary.
Pool memory is allocated in pages – that is, firmware allocates enough contiguous pages
to contain the number of bytes specified in the allocation request. Hence, a pool can be
contained within a single page or extend across multiple pages. Pool memory is allocated
by AllocatePool() and returned by FreePool().
Preboot Execution Environment (PXE)
A means by which agents can be loaded remotely onto systems to perform management
tasks in the absence of a running OS. To enable the interoperability of clients and
downloaded bootstrap programs, the client preboot code must provide a set of services
for use by a downloaded bootstrap. It also must ensure certain aspects of the client state
at the point in time when the bootstrap begins executing.
Protocol
The information that defines how to access a certain type of device during boot services.
A protocol consists of a GUID, a protocol revision number, and a protocol interface
structure. The interface structure contains data definitions and a set of functions for
accessing the device. A device can have multiple protocols. Each protocol is accessible
through the device’s handle.
Protocol Handler
A function that responds to a call to a HandleProtocol request for a given handle. A
protocol handler returns a protocol interface structure.