Dell Emulex Family of Adapters - Manual (Page 1511)

Boot Version 10.2 for NIC, iSCSI, FCoE, and RoCE Protocols User Manual P010097-01B Rev. A
1. Introduction
Overview
1511
1. Introduction
Overview
This manual describes installing, enabling, and configuring boot code for Emulex
®
network interface card (NIC), Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI), and
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) adapters. This manual also describes the Emulex
boot from SAN implementation and its operation with distinct hardware and operating
system requirements.
Boot from SAN is the process of booting a server directly from a disk operating system
image located on a storage area network (SAN) by way of Emulex adapters using
Emulex boot code. When booting from SAN, the storage device is typically identified
by its world wide port name (WWPN) and a logical unit number (LUN). By extending
the server system boot basic input/output system (BIOS), boot from SAN functionality
is provided by the boot BIOS contained on an Emulex adapter in the server. When
properly configured, the adapter then permanently directs the server to boot from a
logical unit (disk) on the SAN as if it were a local disk.
Emulex provides the following types of boot code:

Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) boot for NIC adapters in x86 and x64
systems

x86 BootBIOS for FCoE adapters in x86 and x64 systems

iSCSI boot for iSCSI adapters in x86 and x64 systems

UEFIBoot for NIC, iSCSI, and FCoE adapters in x64 systems. This provides
system boot capability through the use of the UEFI (Unified Extensible
Firmware Interface) Shell. It also functions on UEFI 2.x-based platforms
through the HII (Human Interface Infrastructure) interface.

OpenBoot for FCoE and NIC adapters in Sun SPARC systems (OpenBoot is also
called FCode). For more information, see chapter 4., “Configuring Boot from
SAN for the FCoE Protocol,” on page 1558 and appendix I., “Booting the Solaris
Operating System from the Network on SPARC Systems,” on page 1803.
Note: Emulex drivers support multipath boot configurations. See your storage
vendor's documentation for information on configuring multipath booting.
The Emulex boot code and the following utilities provide a variety of capabilities:

Boot from SAN across the different networking protocols and operating
systems

UEFI configuration using the Emulex NIC, FCoE, and iSCSI Configuration
Utilities

PXESelect Utility

Configuring the port and controller

Configuring multichannel support and personality options

FCoE Boot BIOS Utility

Scanning for target devices