I have a custom kernel in my Debian Linux box. I compile kernels myself and then put them to knowledge of dpkg system.
When configuring the kernel, first thing I remove is initrd. I know how my rig accesses root filesystem (serial ATA, SCSI support, SCSI disk and ext4) so I compile them into kernel. Other modules are accessible from root filesystem /lib/modules
This has saved me many times. If something goes wrong, kernel drops me to a working prompt I can use to access my rig. If initrd goes broken, I need a boot stick (that is missing usually). Now when Kernel knows what to do to get to boot prompt, I can use my system tools just usually to fix the problem.
