.\"	$NetBSD: prep,v 1.3 2002/06/30 12:36:54 lukem Exp $
.
First and foremost, before beginning the installation process,
.Em make sure you have a reliable backup
of any data on your hard disk that you
wish to keep.
Repartitioning your hard disk is an excellent way to destroy important data.
.Pp
The Shark platform is most commonly run in a
.Dq diskless
configuration.
That is, the system loads its kernel over the
network and uses NFS to access its root file system from a server.
It is possible, however, to install
.Nx*M
onto a disk drive; some Shark models included IDE ZIP drives, and it
is also possible to mount a laptop drive inside the Shark case (this
is left as an exercise for the reader).
.Pp
If you are going to run your Shark in a diskless configuration, you
must set up DHCP, TFTP, and NFS on your server; the Shark firmware
and kernel use DHCP to obtain their network configuration, the Shark
firmware loads the kernel using TFTP, and the Shark kernel uses NFS
to access the root file system.
See your server system's documentation on how to configure these services.
.Pp
If you are going to run your Shark from a disk, there is essentially
no preparation work that you need to do; the Shark firmware understands
the NetBSD partition map and FFS file system formats, and loads the kernel
directly from an FFS file system.
However, you must still configure a DHCP and TFTP server on your network,
since the installation software must be loaded over the network.