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iscsi remote boot and Hyper-V vSwitch

idata
Employee
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Hello,

I am looking for some tech background information about why its not possible to use a x520 card as virtual switch (creating VLAN is disabled as well) that is used for boot from iscsi in hyper-v. is this a limitation by windows, the intel driver (if driver limitation, chances this will change in the future?)?

Thanks

Florian

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Mark_H_Intel
Employee
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Hi Florian,

 

In Windows the connection will eventually be controlled by the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator, which does not support VLANs. Therefore, the VLAN option is not available for the Intel iSCSI Boot. At least, that is my interpretation of the information in the Intel® Ethernet iSCSI Guide. (The Intel® Ethernet iSCSI Guide is part of the http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=11848 User Guide package for the Intel Ethernet adapters. )

I do not have any expectation that this would change for current versions of Windows, but I do not know about future versions of Windows.

I hope this helps.

Mark H

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idata
Employee
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Any update on this? The Intel response did not address the original question.

(to Intel: the question noted VLAN disabling as a side-effect, and not the main problem)

Is this a known issue? The specs for the X520 list both iScsi boot and hyper-v support, but it doesn't say anything about them being mutually exclusive features.

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Mark_H_Intel
Employee
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Hi Florian,

Are you trying to use iSCSI boot for a VM or for the physical server running Hyper-V?

The physical Ethernet adapter doesn't matter if you are talking about booting a VM via iSCSI, because you are not using the adapter's iSCSI boot capability. See http://blogs.msdn.com/b/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2008/02/19/booting-hyper-v-vms-off-of-iscsi.aspx Booting Hyper-V VMs off of iSCSI? - Ben Armstrong - Site Home - MSDN Blogs for information on booting a VM using iSCSI. There is no limitation related to the X520 series adapters that would affect this.

The iSCSI Boot Option ROM included in the physical adapter would only get used for booting the physical server via iSCSI. (The X520 series supports iSCSI boot .) For iSCSI boot of the physical server the Ethernet adapter connects to the iSCSI target and populates the iSCSI Boot Firmware Table (iBFT). The process is described fairly well in http://blogs.technet.com/b/storageserver/archive/2011/05/04/diskless-servers-can-boot-and-run-from-the-microsoft-iscsi-software-target-using-a-regular-network-card.aspx Diskless servers can boot and run from the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target using a regular network card! - Windows Storage Server - Site Home - TechNet Blogs.

I hope this helps.

Mark H

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idata
Employee
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Hi Mark,

The host is using iSCSI boot on one port of the X520, and the other port is connected to the main network and is hosting the Hyper-V virtual switch. Once the Virtual Switch is installed, the "microsoft virtual ethernet adapter" is what is used for all communication. However, that device shows an error in device manager. All standard Hyper-V settings, latest drivers/updates. Have been grappling with this issue for 3 days now.

Thanks,

Steve

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Mark_H_Intel
Employee
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I'm not sure what would cause the MS virtual Ethernet adapter to show an error. What type of error? A yellow bang in the device manager? What's the error say. (I suppose the error will be something generic, but maybe I will get an idea.) I'm definitely not an expert on troubleshooting Hyper-V, but I understand enough theory to possibly give out dangerous advice. So I understand if you don't want to take what I say next seriously.

Here is what I am thinking. Maybe the virtual adapter thinks that the virtual switch configured for the second X520 port is not available for some reason. Was the port configured as a secondary port for iSCSI boot at some point that made Hyper-V look at the port as an iSCSI port and not available?

You might need some help from Microsoft on the virtual port issue, but here is something that I might try. Delete the virtual switch that is using the main communication port on the X520. Make sure that the port is not configured to be used for remote boot. Create a new virtual switch for the port and assign the VM to the switch. Hopefully the error will go away.

I will also check with someone that I know who has more Hyper-V experience than me to see if he has some other ideas?

Mark H

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idata
Employee
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Hi Mark,

The device manager error is a yellow warning sign, and the error is "This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)". I checked and the main port has boot disabled. The virtual switch manager won't let me delete the switch or make any changes to it, saying "Failed to apply changes to Virtual Switch." The actual adapter settings show as enabled for the physical device in Control Panel, but once you install Hyper-V, you cannot configure any options for the X520 main port.

Thanks for looking into this, I'm still doing everything I can to try and fix it.

Steve

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Mark_H_Intel
Employee
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Hi Steve,

Anything I tell you about why you can't delete that switch will be guesswork on my part. Maybe you can't delete a switch that has virtual NICs assigned from the VM. I will contact you via private message for more details.

Mark H

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