DRBL vs iVentoy
DRBL
drbl.orgiVentoy
iventoy.comSide by side
| Figure | DRBL | iVentoy |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · OS Deployment Software | 7.8 (#11) | 8.2 (#7) |
| Spec score · Bare Metal Provisioning Software | 7.8 (#12) | 8.1 (#8) |
| Purpose | DRBL manages deployment of the GNU/Linux operating system across many clients from one server. | iVentoy is a PXE/HTTPBoot server for booting and installing operating systems on multiple machines over a network. |
| Support | The installation guide directs users to report bugs by generating a drbl-bug-report report and emailing the DRBL user mailing list or posting in the DRBL forum. | The maker directs users to the forums for general issues or to longpanda at [email protected]. |
Plans
In their own words
DRBL
DRBL deploys GNU/Linux from one server to many client machines. Clients can boot through PXE or etherboot in a diskless or systemless environment, so GNU/Linux need not be installed on each client drive. DRBL says clients can use distributed hardware resources while retaining full local-hardware access, and that other installed systems such as Windows remain untouched. Clonezilla is included for partitioning and disk cloning. Commands can change boot modes, copy files, manage user accounts and issue instructions across clients. DRBL uses PXE/etherboot, NFS and NIS for network services and supports network and multicast deployment. The free, open-source software is intended for Linux and self-hosted setups. Its installation guide supports Debian Bullseye and Buster, Ubuntu Jammy and Focal, CentOS 7, Scientific Linux 7.x and RHEL 7.x; other distributions or versions will not work. DRBL Live is available for CD/DVD or USB and hard drives in amd64, i686-pae and i686 formats.
iVentoy
iVentoy is a PXE/HTTPBoot server for booting and installing operating systems on multiple machines over a network. It runs on Windows and Linux, with Linux server builds for x86_64 and ARM64. The maker lists more than 110 supported operating system types, including Windows, WinPE, Linux, Unix, and VMware. Client boot modes include x86 Legacy BIOS and IA32, x86_64, ARM64, and LoongArch64 UEFI. iVentoy boots ISO files directly without extracting them and retains their native boot menu style. It can install different operating systems on multiple clients simultaneously, filter clients by MAC address or architecture, and assign unattended installation scripts to ISO files. Its HTTP server can serve files inside ISOs without unpacking them. The server includes DHCP and can also use third-party DHCP servers, but DHCP Proxy is not supported. Secure Boot is supported, though client Secure Boot currently works only on x86_64. The Free Edition costs nothing, has no usage time limit, and allows up to 20 clients with no commercial use. Pro costs $49, paid once.