HP Virtual Connect 4Gb Fibre Channel Module for c-Class BladeSystem - Manual (Page 165)

Virtual Connect server profiles 165
• Use BIOS—Current BIOS settings are used for embedded NICs and mezzanine NIC PXE operations.
VC Manager makes no changes to the current settings.
This is not applicable to Flex-10 LOM ports when used with Flex-10 interconnect modules. In this
situation, the USE-BIOS option for PXE boot in a VC profile always allows a server to PXE boot from a
LOM port irrespective of the initial LOM settings in the BIOS utility (F9 screen).
HP BladeSystem c-Class server blades have a factory default configuration for PXE to be enabled on
embedded NIC 1 only, included as the last entry in the RBSU IPL priority list (boot order). VC Manager and
the BIOS limit the number of PXE enabled embedded NICs to one. However, additional NIC ports from a
mezzanine adapter can be enabled simultaneously using the "Use BIOS" settings.
All mezzanine NIC ports can be enabled for PXE booting at the same time, along with one embedded NIC
port. If one or more mezzanine NIC ports are enabled for PXE booting, you should review the RBSU IPL list
to validate or update the boot order priority.
If you need to enable PXE on more than one NIC port, you must set all of the NICs' PXE configuration options
in the VCM to "Use BIOS". Then, configure the individual PXE NIC settings using RBSU: F9 during POST to
configure an embedded NIC, and F1 during POST to configure the mezzanine NIC ports. After all of the
selected NIC ports are PXE enabled, you must configure the boot order using the RBSU boot order settings.
Only the first FlexNIC on each physical port of a Flex-10 device can be used for PXE boot. Virtual Connect
cannot enable PXE boot on the remaining FlexNICs of a physical port.
Redundancy for PXE operations can be achieved using multiple PXE enabled NICs. However, the Virtual
Connect Manager is limited to enabling only one NIC for PXE booting. If a configuration requires more than
one NIC to have PXE enabled, you should set all NICs in the VC Manager to the "Use BIOS" setting, and
configure the NIC PXE settings through their respective BIOS utilities (F9 for embedded NICs, and F1 for
mezzanine NIC ports.)
The following table lists examples of valid configurations for PXE enabling NIC ports. This is only a sampling
of the possible valid configurations.
PXE enabled PXE disabled Server blade configuration
Embedded NIC 1,
Mezz 1 NIC port 1 Embedded NIC 2,
Mezz NIC port 2
BL46xc with a dual-port NIC mezzanine
adapter
Embedded NIC 2,
Mezz 1 NIC port 1
Embedded NIC 1,
Mezz NIC port 2
BL46xc with a dual-port NIC mezzanine
adapter
Embedded NIC 1,
Mezz 1 NIC port 1, 2 Embedded NIC 1 BL46xc with a dual-port NIC mezzanine
adapter
Mezz 1 NIC port 1, 2 Embedded NIC 1, 2 BL46xc with a dual-port NIC mezzanine
adapter
Embedded NIC 1,
Mezz 1 NIC port 1
Mezz 2 NIC ports 1, 2
Embedded NIC 2, 3, 4
Mezz 1 NIC port 1
Mezz 2 NIC port 3, 4
BL48xc with a dual-port NIC mezzanine
adapter and a quad-port NIC mezzanine
adapter
Embedded NIC 4,
Mezz 1 NIC ports 1, 2
Mezz 2 NIC ports 1, 2, 3, 4
Embedded NIC 1, 2, 3 BL48xc with a dual-port NIC mezzanine
adapter and a quad-port NIC mezzanine
adapter
Mezz 1 NIC port 1
Mezz 2 NIC ports 1
Embedded NIC 1, 2, 3, 4
Mezz 1 NIC port 2
Mezz 2 NIC port 2, 3, 4
BL48xc with a dual-port NIC mezzanine
adapter and a quad-port NIC mezzanine
adapter
In each configuration above, only one embedded NIC port can have PXE enabled (any embedded NIC port
is eligible), but any and all mezzanine NIC ports can be enabled whether or not an embedded NIC port is
being enabled.