Cisco C-Series C240 M3 - FCoE Boot?

[zykobot]

Hi,

Does anyone know if it's possible to boot a stand alone Cisco C240 M3 via FCoE - ESXi 5.1 will be on the boot LUN.

I noticed in the guide that the only options for boot are:

Device Types table

The server boot options. You can select one or more of the following: HDD—Hard disk drive FDD—Floppy disk drive CDROM—Bootable CD-ROM or DVD PXE—PXE boot EFI—Extensible Firmware Interface

However in vHBA properties there's also this..

FC SAN Boot check box

If checked, the vHBA can be used to perform a SAN boot.

Anyone successfully done this and what should I set the server boot option to be?

Thanks,

Nick

[padramas · Accepted solution]

Hello Nick,

I assume by referring to vHBA, you have Cisco VIC card installed on the server. Yes,it is capable of booting from SAN  ( FC / FCoE )

Padma

[zykobot]

Thanks Padma, what should the 1st boot option be set to in BIOS to achieve boot over FCoE (and yes you're correct.. Cisco P81E VIC card will be used)

[zykobot]

Oh, and if our Netapps also connect to the Nexus 5K - would that then be considered FCoE multihop and therefor unsupported? ie Netapp => FCoE => Nexus 5K => FCoE => Cisco C-Series vHBA?

Meaning I'll need to connect like this: Netapp => FC => Nexus5K => FCoE => Cisco C-Series vHBA

[padramas]

Hello Nick,

Topology

UCS Rack Server CNA <-- FCoE--> N5K <--FcoE--> SAN Array ( Target )

This is not a multihop topology as it does not have VE <--> VE connection ( or ISLs connecting different Domain IDs )

On the vHBA, you need to enable " FC SAN Boot " option to boot from FCoE target.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/c/sw/gui/config/guide/1.4.1/b_Cisco_UCS_C-Series_GUI_Configuration_Guide_141_chapter_01001.html

Before you start, checklist ( recommended config )  from top of my mind are

UCS

- Update firmware for all components using latest Host Upgrade Utility ( HUU )

- Use Cisco OEM ESXi image ( inbuilt drivers )

Nexus 5K

- Enable lldp,fcoe,npiv feature

- Verify the QoS configuration for FCoE

HTH

Padma