How we reduced core unit boot time from hours to minutes

2026-06-01

9 min read

by Giovanni Pereira Zantedeschi

Tags:

Infrastructure

Engineering

Networking

Core

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Endigest AI Core Summary

Cloudflare reduced core server boot time from four hours back to minutes by resolving a UEFI firmware issue that caused unnecessary network boot interface probing.

•The firmware update triggered a linear search through multiple network boot interfaces (IPv4 HTTPS, IPv4 iPXE, IPv6 HTTPS), each consuming about 5 minutes in timeouts before reaching the correct interface
•Restructured boot automation workflow to declare the correct network boot interface early in the pre-boot PXE stage, eliminating unnecessary probing
•Overcame three technical constraints: legacy UEFI versions lacking boot order support, vendor-disabled boot order settings, and inconsistent network interface card string formats across vendors
•Implemented state validation to reapply configurations after UEFI firmware upgrades due to setting resets

How we reduced core unit boot time from hours to minutes

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Endigest AI Core Summary

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