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  • July 23, 2005 at 11:34 pm #362456
    LazLong
    Participant

    Since the Mac uses Open Firmware/Sun’s OpenBoot/FCode, shouldn’t one be able to boot from a fibre channel HBA in the same manner that a Solaris box can? If this is indeed the case, can one install an OS onto a fibre channel-accessible partition as part of the normal install process with a v10.3.5 disc?

    July 25, 2005 at 3:41 am #362464
    LazLong
    Participant

    Yes, one can boot from a fibre channel device, and yes one can boot from a normal install disc and install an OS onto a fibre-attached volume. Both of these are true, as long as the device is visible to the damn Xserve!

    For some reason my Xserve can’t see the san volume I’ve mapped to it. If I connect the Xserve and the FC storage box directly together all is fine, but once I put a switch in between them the Xserve can’t see the volume. I’ve verified that the zoning is correct….I really don’t know WTF is going on….

    July 26, 2005 at 2:32 am #362479
    LazLong
    Participant

    Well, after a call to my storage vendor and a call back from QLogic, it seems I have the answer as to why googling on Macs booting from SAN’s returned so little. QLogic confirmed my suspicion that Mac OS X sucks….Evidently the Mac SCSI class driver is a POS, and Mac’s can’t participate in a SAN fabric. Apple only supports FC-AL, which is pretty much a dead technology. Yeah….

    July 26, 2005 at 7:58 pm #362498
    LazLong
    Participant

    As my reply stated, I got the info from a second level QLogic support engineer who purports to be knowledgeable of and specifically supports OS X.

    Purhaps if I give a little more concrete info…

    I have the following configuration:

    Xserve (tried both 10.3.9 and 10.4.2)
    2 QLogic SANBox 5200 switches
    1 Infortrend EonRAID 2510FS fibre channel controller head
    1 Infortrend EonStor A16F-J1210 fibre-SATA JBOD

    The Xserve can not see the storage mapped to it if the Xserve and the storage are connected to the fabric. However, the 2510FS has a built-in ‘hub,’ and with the Xserve connected to it directly, the storage is visible. The zoning is definitely correct. I contacted my storage vendor (Zzyzx), who immediately put me in contact with QLogic. QLogic told me Mac OS X can’t participate in a fabric, and that Apple only supports their FC cards in a FC-AL configuration. I was told the culprit was OS X’s SCSI class driver, and it’s lack of appropriate SCSI-3 support.

    So, my questions is, has anyone successfully used an OS X box in a fabric, with LUN mapping/masking? If so, what was the configuration?

    July 27, 2005 at 2:21 am #362512
    LazLong
    Participant

    SANsurfer reports the ports the 2510FS are attached to as FL ports (the port has a green background with the letters ‘FL’), and when you get properties for the port the port type is reported as a GL-port. So, yes, the 5200 apparently sees that the 2510FS isn’t a single device, but rather a public loop.

    NB: This configuration with the same equipment (not identical, the same pieces) booted Win 2003 EE w/o any issues. Soooooo….I’m stuck pulling out what little hair I have left….I really need to get this going!

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