san boot fabric based boot lun discovery tb

8/4/2019 San Boot Fabric Based Boot Lun Discovery Tb

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SERVER CONNECTIVITY

Boot from SAN:

Fabric-Based Boot LUN Discovery

Describes a recommended setup and configuration for

Fabric-Based Boot LUN Discovery in a Brocade storage

network using Brocade Host Bus Adapters (HBAs).

CONTENTS

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 2Recommended Setup ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

Configuring the Server and HBA ................................................................................................................................... 3Configuring the Brocade Switch .................................................................................................................................... 3


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SERVER CONNECTIVITY TECHNICAL BRIEF

Boot from SAN: Fabric-Based Boot LUN Discovery 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Boot from SAN is becoming more popular in data centers. The most important reasons are rapid server

provisioning, rapid recovery from server failure, improved reliability, and reduced power and cooling.

Brocade Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) support boot from SAN in all types of environments. Specific Brocade

features make boot from SAN easier to deploy, such as putting a label with the port World Wide Name

(pWWN) on the bracket of the HBA and a feature called Fabric-Based Boot LUN Discovery.

Fabric-Based Boot LUN Discovery can be deployed in a Brocade SAN only using Brocade HBAseliminating

the manual process of boot LUN configuration of each HBA from each server console. This capability

dramatically improves configuration and reliability, containing operational costs and making the adoption of

diskless servers a practical alternative for even large data centers.

NOTE: IBM UEFI and other UEFI-based servers do NOT support this unique Brocade feature, because of their

different discovery processes.

The figure below describes the process.

RECOMMENDED SETUPThis paper describes at a high level how to configure the server, HBA, and Brocade switch and include code samples;

however, it does not describe in detail how to flash the HBA BIOS or upload the latest version of Brocade Fabric OS

(FOS) on a Brocade SAN switch or director. Note that Brocade FOS 6.2 or later and HBA BIOS version 1.1 or later are

required, and we recommend always using the latest BIOS and FOS version. Other than that, no additional hardware or

extra license or software is needed to deploy Fabric-Based Boot LUN Discovery. Use the FOS Command-Line Interface

(CLI) for configuration: neither Brocade DCFM nor Brocade Web Tools are required.

Brocade

HBA

BrocadeFC Switch

Brocade DCX

Backbone

SAN

Array 1

Array 2

Whats my

boot LUN?

1

23

4

1. Server initiates boot

2. HBA queries fabric for boot LUN configuration

3. Fabric responds with boot LUN

4. Server boots OS from specified LUN

Distributed boot

LUN configuration

repository

Boot LUN 1

Boot LUN 2

Boot LUN 3

Boot LUN 4

Boot from

LUN 1

VMware

Red Hat

Windows

Windows

Centralized management

of boot LUN configuration


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Configuring the Server and HBA

Brocade HBAs are already configured to support Fabric-Based Boot LUN Discovery in the default BIOS setting. Verify that

the BIOS is enabled and that the Boot LUN is set to Auto Discover, as shown in the screen capture below. After that there

is no need to touch the server or the BIOS again.

Configuring the Brocade SwitchIn addition to zoning and masking, the SAN administrator needs to configure an additional Boot LUN (BLUN) zone on the

switch. At server boot, the Brocade HBA (set to Auto Discover) makes a connection to the switch, retrieves the remote

pWWN and the LUN from this BLUN zone, and tries to boot from this LUN.

To configure the BLUN zone and add it to the configuration (here config), use the FOS CLI zoneCreate command:

HBA_pWWN=100000051E0FAA21; Storage_pWWN=50060E801042C231; LUN=0000000000000000

zonecreate "BFA_100000051E0FAA21_BLUN", "00:00:00:00:50:06:0e:80;

00:00:00:01:10:42:c2:31; 00:00:00:02:00:00:00:00; 00:00:00:03:00:00:00:00"

cfgadd config, "BFA_100000051E0FAA21_BLUN"

cfgsave

cfgenable config

Changing the LUN to boot from is easy, as the number of that LUN is

coded in the third zone member as shown in the example below, in

which the LUN is changed to FF:

zonedelete "BFA_100000051E0FAA21_BLUN"

zonecreate "BFA_100000051E0FAA21_BLUN", "00:00:00:00:50:06:0e:80;

00:00:00:01:10:42:c2:31; 00:00:00:02:00:FF:00:00; 00:00:00:03:00:00:00:00"

cfgsave

cfgenable config


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Brocade DCFM or Web Tools can also be used to verify the Fabric-Based Boot LUN Discovery zone as shown

in the screen capture below (which illustrates a different example from the one above).

Here is another example with the same HBA but a different storage LUN 0:

zonecreate "bfa_100000051e0faa21_blun", "00:00:00:00:50:00:00:e0;

00:00:00:01:d0:44:29:86; 00:00:00:02:00:00:00:00; 00:00:00:03:00:00:00:00"

cfgadd HYPERV_TEST, "bfa_100000051e0faa21_blun"

cfgenable HYPERV_TEST

The Brocade Command Line Utility (BCU), loaded with the driver package, provides commands that are

comparable to Brocade HCM features for configuring, troubleshooting, and monitoring the HBA and device

connection.

Syntax: bcu command --operand synopsis

Example: bcu adapter -query

The bcu boot blunZone command line helps to create the zoneCreate command line for the switch

FOS, which can then be copied and pasted. Here is the same example but with a different LUN 0xff:

BCU boot -blunZone c BLUN p 10:00:00:05:1e:0f:aa:21 r

50:00:00:e0:d0:44:29:86 l ff

zonecreate "bfa_100000051e0faa21_blun", "00:00:00:00:50:00:00:e0;

00:00:00:01:d0:44:29:86; 00:00:00:02:00:ff:00:00; 00:00:00:03:00:00:00:00"

2010 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 10/10 GA-TB-348-00

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Wingspan are registered trademarks, and Brocade Assurance, Brocade NET Health, Brocade One, Extraordinary Networks,

MyBrocade, and VCS are trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or in other countries.

Other brands, products, or service names mentioned are or may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.

Notice: This document is for informational purposes only and does not set forth any warranty, expressed or implied, concerning

any equipment, equipment feature, or service offered or to be offered by Brocade. Brocade reserves the right to make changes

to this document at any time, without notice, and assumes no responsibility for its use. This informational document describes

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san boot fabric based boot lun discovery tb

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