iSCSI support on Multifunction NICs

[chuckk281]

Christopher had iSCSI questions and Lionel had some answers for him

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Team:

I have two questions.

1.  Can a Multifunction NIC be used to run standard Ethernet AND iSCSI at the same time?

 Ans. Yes, iSCSI being just SCSI commands carried over IP network, it can be done on any cards, multifunction and not-multifunction, the difference being : do you want to offload the CPU with iSCSI acceleration engines or iSCSI software is enough?

2. The term multifunction kind of implies that.

I have a customer who wants to run both a standard network connection AND an iSCSI connection from the embedded mezzanine card on the BL460 G7 – but they are NOT going to be using Virtual Connect.

Ans. Basically this is entirely possible with any switches (iSCSI runs over IP)

With non VC Modules like Procurve 6120XG or Cisco 3120G you have the Accelerated iSCSI capabilities and the OS sees 2 ports, one Ethernet and one iSCSI.  

3. Is a license required to run iSCSI on a blade embedded NIC?

Ans. Depends which Blade is used,

-          for the G7, there is no license required

-          for servers with Broadcom controller NC532i (1Gb LOM), a license is required for Accelerated iSCSI, you need to purchase the HP ProLiant iSCSI Acceleration Software Pack. For NC532m (mezzanine), you do not need an additional license to use Accelerated iSCSI. But this license is not required if you just want to enable basic software iSCSI functionality (not accelerated) which is handled by the OS.

3. If so is it possible to get a trial license key so a customer can experiment prior to making a purchase.  How do I get a key if this is possible?

Ans. No idea sorry, did you check the Software depot?

Any other comments or questions regarding iSCSI functions on the NICs, Adapters, or Virtual Connect modules?

Thanks,