Boot from SAN in a Flat SAN environment

[LVSsanman]

I've heard that Boot from SAN in a FLAT SAN environment was not possible, anyone with experience?

The HP Boot from SAN Configuration Guide pg 15 states its supported.

Running a FlexFabric module pair direct attached to a 3PAR P7200.

Thoughts?

Kirk

[Sheldon Smith]

At a start, the HBA BIOS would need to support Boot from SAN.
Depending on the OS, you may have to limit paths during installation.

Other than that, I can think of no reason why there would be any problem with a flat SAN environment.

[CalvinZito · Accepted solution]

Hi Kirk - saw this question on my Flat SAN blog post as well.  You're question there was seemed to be more about boot from SAN in a CloudSystem Matrix environment so let me address what I think you're asking:

Boot from SAN definitely works and is supported with Flat SAN. However, Flat SAN is only partially supported in a CloudSystem Matrix environment, specifically as a VM backing store. It is not supported for physical server provisioning. One of the difficulties is that the boot target WWN that needs to be configured in the Virtual Connect server profile may be different from one enclosure to another. 

Here's a technical white paper that you'll find helpful, Implementing HP Virtual Connect Direct-Attach Fibre Channel for HP 3PAR StoreServ Systems.  (PDF)

Hope that helps!