PXE NIC on BL20p

[Ray Lee_2]

There are 4 NIC and 1 iLO connection on the BL20p-G3 w/ enhance backplane. NIC 1 is designated as PXE. Can this port be disable or used in a network environment?

[Ed Cox · Accepted solution]

Ray,
NIC 1 can be used as any normal Gb nic would. By default the only time you will see the nic use it's PXE capability is during boot up if there is no c: drive to access (like when the server is brand new with no OS). The BIOS is set to look first for an a: drive, then a CD-ROM drive, and then the hard drive(s). If no OS exists then it will allow the PXE nic to try PXE booting.
Once the server has an OS then server boots to the array controller and the PXE boot is a last resort.
You can always force a PXE boot by pressing F12 during POST.
If you would like...you can press F9 during POST to access the ROM Based Setup Utility (RBSU) and you can disable the PXE functionality for NIC 1.
Ed

[Ray Lee_2]

It didn't hit me until after I had submitted my question that I knew the answer.

Thanks for the reply.