# Holistic Boot

- Show: [Oxide and Friends](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends)
- Published: 2022-10-11
- Length: 1h 31m
- Episode: 30
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-10-11-holistic-boot
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/24beb248

## Summary

Brian Cantrill, Adam Leventhal, and Josh Baker of Oxide Computer Company discuss their 'Holistic Boot' approach, which eliminates the traditional BIOS and BMC to reduce attack surface and improve reliability. They detail specific failures in industry-standard firmware, such as BMCs failing to boot idempotently and Intel Management Engine issues, explaining how these opaque layers cause unpredictable behavior. The team explains their custom 'foible' bootloader and service processor design, which allows them to boot directly into the OS kernel, resulting in faster development cycles and higher system quality compared to relying on proprietary vendor firmware.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-10-11-holistic-boot#t=0) Introduction: Holistic Boot and Industry Pain
- [3:38](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-10-11-holistic-boot#t=218) BMC and Redfish Failures
- [17:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-10-11-holistic-boot#t=1041) Eliminating the BMC and BIOS
- [23:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-10-11-holistic-boot#t=1396) Intel Management Engine and Firmware Bugs
- [33:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-10-11-holistic-boot#t=2025) Richmond 16 and SMM Issues
- [44:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-10-11-holistic-boot#t=2667) Business Case for Holistic Design
- [52:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-10-11-holistic-boot#t=3161) Hardware Flexibility and GPU Strategy
- [1:07:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-10-11-holistic-boot#t=4026) Foible Bootloader and Technical Implementation

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [PCB design & layout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pcb-design)
- [Security & privacy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/security-and-privacy)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Oxide Computer Company (company)
- Brian Cantrill (other)
- Adam Leventhal (other)
- Josh Baker (other)
- Dan Moseley (other)
- Redfish (other)
- BMC (other)
- Intel (company)
- Management Engine (other)
- Dell (company)
- PERC (product)
- Richmond 16 (other)
- SMM (other)
- AMD (company)
- NVIDIA (company)
- foible (other)
- PSP (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [342: That Girl's Brain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-08-27-342-that-girls-brain) (Embedded.fm)
- [Finding Hardware Flaws with Laura Abbott](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-05-23-finding-hardware-flaws-with-laura-abbott) (The Amp Hour)
- [414: Puff, the Magically Secure Dragon](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-05-26-414-puff-the-magically-secure-dragon) (Embedded.fm)
- [390: Irresponsible At the Time](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2021-10-21-390-irresponsible-at-the-time) (Embedded.fm)
- [#021: Hardware at Software Speed: How BootLoop Is Bringing AI to the Bench for Firmware Teams](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/coredump-sessions/2026-03-25-021-hardware-at-software-speed-how-bootloop-is-bringing-ai-to-the-bench-for-firm) (Coredump Sessions)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-10-11-holistic-boot. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Oxide and Friends.