10–Configuring Fibre Channel Over Ethernet
FCoE Boot from SAN
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DCB supports storage, management, computing, and communications fabrics
onto a single physical fabric that is simpler to deploy, upgrade, and maintain than
in standard Ethernet networks. DCB technology allows the capable Cavium
C-NICs to provide lossless data delivery, lower latency, and standards-based
bandwidth sharing of data center physical links. The DCB supports FCoE, iSCSI,
Network-Attached Storage (NAS), Management, and IPC traffic flows. For more
information on DCB, see
Chapter 15 Configuring Data Center Bridging
FCoE Boot from SAN
This section describes the FCoE-boot-from-SAN configuration and installation
procedures for the Windows, Linux, and ESXi operating systems. The FCoE
configuration procedures divide into two sets according to the system boot mode:
Legacy (BIOS) or UEFI.
FCoE Boot Configuration in Legacy Boot Mode
The following procedures describe FCoE boot configuration in Legacy boot mode
prior to OS installation.
Preparing System BIOS for FCoE Build and Boot
Provisioning Storage Access in the SAN
Preparing System BIOS for FCoE Build and Boot
To prepare the system BIOS, modify the system boot order and specify the BIOS
boot protocol, if required.
Modify System Boot Order
Use the latest BIOS from the vendor for the server to ensure that the BIOS
supports BCV-based boot from SAN features. In BCV-based systems, the BIOS
boot order does not need to be changed on the boot following the OS installation
for the system to boot to the installed OS. In bootstrap entry vector (BEV)-based
systems, the BIOS boot order must be modified.
Specify BIOS Boot Protocol (if required)
Boot protocol must be specified through the Comprehensive Configuration
Management (CCM) tool in the single function mode environment. In the HPE
®
FlexFabric
®
(FFA) environment, the boot protocol can be specified with either
CCM or HPE’s Virtual Connect Manager.
NOTE
FCoE Boot from SAN is not supported on ESXi 5.0. ESXi Boot from SAN is
supported on ESXi 5.1 and later.