Question: If you are root, and you issue 

```
rm -rf / 

```

Then how far can the command go? Can you recover data from this kind of an action? Even after the binaries are gone, would the running processes still be active? What would it take to make the same physical machine boot again? What files would you need to restore to make this happen?

I could try this on a VM and see, but I want to know the rationale behind what to expect if I do this.

Answer: 
This command does nothing, at least on the OS I use (Solaris) with which this security feature was first implemented:

```
# rm -rf /
rm of / is not allowed

```

On other \*nix, especially the Linux family, if a recent enough Gnu rm is provided, you would need to add the `--no-preserve-root` option to enable the command to complete (or at least start).

How far would this command go is undefined. It depends on plenty of more or less unpredictable events. Generally, processes can run even after their binaries have been removed.
I just tried with Ubuntu 16 and vmware workstation and with the no-preserve-root option it erased the entire disk of my running linux system. after that was finished the whole vmware workstation app became unusably instable and even powering off or resetting the virtual machine from the application was impossible.
Killing the vmx was refused only a host reboot worked after that!