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two-stage bootloader
A boot design where a tiny first program's only job is to load a bigger, smarter second program.
The very first code a machine runs is heavily constrained — limited space, minimal capabilities. A two-stage bootloader keeps that first stage small enough to fit those limits, and has it load a larger second stage that has room to do the real work of setting up and starting the operating system. It's a common way to escape the tight size limits of early boot.
See also
- virtio-blkThe virtio virtual disk — how a guest OS reads and writes storage inside a virtual machine.
- virtual memoryGiving each program its own private-looking memory space that the hardware maps to real physical memory behind the scenes.
- userspaceThe world where ordinary programs run, kept separate from the privileged core of the operating system.