The PXE Client System Architecture Type “BC EFI (7)” from RFC 4578

pxe-bootuefi

RFC 4578 defines various machine architectures for PXE as follows:

Type   Architecture Name
----   -----------------
  0    Intel x86PC
  1    NEC/PC98
  2    EFI Itanium
  3    DEC Alpha
  4    Arc x86
  5    Intel Lean Client
  6    EFI IA32
  7    EFI BC
  8    EFI Xscale
  9    EFI x86-64

I've tested out two IBM machines (HS22 blade, x3550M3) and they both do EFI PXE boot using the 'EFI BC' architecture.

What does it stand for? When is it used? Why is IBM using it instead of 'EFI x86-64'?

Best Answer

EFI BC = EFI Byte Code. EFI Byte Code is a processor agnostic language for device drivers, PXE, and other EFI extensions so that the code can be written once and run on any supporting platform.