Q-Logic 8100 SERIES manual Boot-from-SAN Requirements

8–Configuring FCoE in a Linux Environment Boot-from-SAN

Because the boot device resides on the SAN, it simplifies server management. Separating the boot image from each server allows administrators to leverage the advanced capabilities of storage arrays to achieve high availability, improved data integrity, rapid provisioning, and more efficient storage management. Replacing a failed server is as easy as moving the Converged Network Adapter to a new server, pointing it to the SAN boot device, and booting up the new host.

All QLogic 8100 Series Converged Network Adapters allow a host to boot-from-SAN for any of the supported versions of RHEL 5.

Boot-from-SAN requires the configuration of the QLogic 8100 Series Adapter, the FCoE switch, and the storage array. How you connect these SAN components is determined by the level of redundancy you require. There are minor differences when configuring the QLogic 8100 Series Adapter for boot-from-SAN between servers that support BIOS and those that support UEFI. The following summarizes the configuration process:

1.Set the boot order to disable boot-from-local-disk, or disconnect the internal hard drives.

2.Configure a single-path to the storage array when installing RHEL 5. For multiple adapter port configurations (for redundancy), connect only one adapter port to the SAN during installation. The same guidance applies to the storage controller ports.

3.Enable the adapter port BIOS.

4.Specify a boot LUN using the QLogic CNA Fast!UTIL BIOS configuration utility.

5.Boot from the optical drive. Install media/PXE boot, and proceed to install the operating system.

6.During the operating system installation process, select the boot LUN as the device on which to install the operating system.

7.Enable multipath (MPIO) configuration on the server after installing the operating system.

Boot-from-SAN Requirements

The following subsections describe requirements for the host/server, Converged Network Adapter, FCoE switch, and storage array.

Host/Server Requirements

Server requirements depend on the type of server, the SAN installation, and the network environment. Consider the following recommendations:

If you plan to configure boot-from-SAN on production servers, back up all disks before proceeding.

8-30 FE0254601-00 A