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Cisco UCS C220-M3 Server doesn't boot after adding Intel I350 Quad Port NIC

GeorgeSimos
Level 1
Level 1

Hello,

We have purchased 2 Cisco UCS C220-M3 rack mounted servers (Single Processor) that have a dual port I350 LOM. We also purchased two Intel I350 Quad Port NICs to expand the available ports on each server from 2 to 6.


The problem we are facing is that the server will not complete the boot process unless we disable either the LOM or the Quad Port NIC. We have tried numerous settings in the BIOS area but we haven't managed to have them both working.


The I350 Quad Port NICs are from Intel and not from Cisco and we are running the latest FW/BIOS on the Servers as of March 10 2015.
We have followed the steps described in the installation guide to install them.

Could you provide some light in this situation please, what are our options?

P.S. Although the LOMs are I350, the MAC Address Vendor is Cisco, is it possible that Cisco servers accept only Cisco Branded Expansion Cards?

 

Thank you,

 

George

6 Replies 6

shawnangelo
Level 1
Level 1

I am in the same boat, and I have had 4 of these in the last two weeks. The first pair eventually booted when I exited the screen below.

 

The new pair is ont booting at all but rather sitting here forever.... I will keep you posted if I figure it out, and if you do please let me know as well.

 

Thanks,

Shawn

Hi Shawn,

 

At least I'm not the only one having the same problem!

You are trying to use the cards with the LOMs enabled?

Which screen are you referring to in the first paragraph of your message?

Mine sits in BIOS POST for about 10 minutes and then resets itself....

We are also waiting for an answer from Cisco, so any findings/news will be posted here.

 

Thanks,

 

George

Hi to all,

I'm posting this because I have finally confirmed my initial thought about Cisco Servers accepting only Cisco Branded NICs.

At least for the case of i350 Quad Port NICs this is the case, we replaced the Intel ones with the same Cisco Branded ones and they are working as expected without having to disable the LOMs (they are i350 too).

So thank you Cisco for making our lifes a nightmare when setting up datacenters, I'm so dissapointed from this fact and not going to have Cisco Servers in my list from now and on.

Hope this helps anyone facing the same issue and be prepared to pay more for Cisco Branded NICs.

I'm posting this because I have finally confirmed my initial thought about Cisco Servers accepting only Cisco Branded NICs.

Hi George

This is absolutely not true. see e.g. Table 11 in

http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/servers-unified-computing/ucs-c-series-rack-servers/c220m3-sff-specsheet.pdf

see attachment

Walter.

Hi Walter,

Thanks for replying, I'm aware of this table and ofcourse is true what I stated above and in the initial post.

The issue is that if the i350 isn't branded from Cisco with the specific Part Number (UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45) then you can't use it simultaneously with the LOMs.

Try to install i350 NICs from Intel and not from Cisco and you will have the same issues.

AFAIK even the latest firmware doesn't change the behaviour, I believe that this is the intended behaviour in order to use Cisco Approved hardware only.

With regards,

George

Hey George,

Have you opened a TAC case to investigate this issue? If so, please share the SR number.

Thanks,

Wes

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