That said . . . is there a better option for step by step? Just trying to get the learning process moving in the right direction here.
Why did you give up on booting from a thumb-drive, or other flash device connected to a USB port? Many users boot servers from USB interfaces and/or thumb-drives, to include @ryecoaaron.
While USB imaging is an off-line process (most are), there are very few ways to recover faster from a failed boot drive, and none that I know of that are easier. Simple, up-to-date, step-by-step instructions for imaging a USB spare already exist.