vSphere Storage - ESXi 5.1 - Documentation - VMware

vSphere Storage
For the software FCoE adapter, you must properly configure networking and then activate the adapter.
NOTE The number of software FCoE adapters you activate corresponds to the number of physical NIC ports.
ESXi supports a maximum of four software FCoE adapters on one host.
Configuration Guidelines for Software FCoE
When setting up your network environment to work with ESXi software FCoE, follow the guidelines and best
practices that VMware offers.
Network Switch Guidelines
Follow these guidelines when you configure a network switch for software FCoE environment:
n On the ports that communicate with your ESXi host, disable the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP). Having
the STP enabled might delay the FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP) response at the switch and cause an all
paths down (APD) condition.
The FIP is a protocol that FCoE uses to discover and initialize FCoE entities on the Ethernet.
n Turn on Priority-based Flow Control (PFC) and set it to AUTO.
VMware recommends that you use the following firmware on the FCoE switch:
n Cisco Nexus 5000: version 4.1(3)N2 or higher.
n Brocade FCoE switch: version 6.3.1 or higher.
Network Adapter Best Practices
If you plan to enable software FCoE adapters to work with network adapters, specific considerations apply.
n Make sure that the latest microcode is installed on the FCoE network adapter.
n If the network adapter has multiple ports, when configuring networking, add each port to a separate
vSwitch. This practice helps you to avoid an APD condition when a disruptive event, such as an MTU
change, occurs.
n Do not move a network adapter port from one vSwitch to another when FCoE traffic is active. If you need
to make this change, reboot your host afterwards.
n If you changed the vSwitch for a network adapter port and caused a failure, moving the port back to the
original vSwitch resolves the problem.
Set Up Networking for Software FCoE
Before you activate the software FCoE adapters, you need to connect the VMkernel to physical FCoE NICs
installed on your host.
Procedure
1 Log in to the vSphere Client, and select a host from the inventory panel.
2 Click the Configuration tab and click Networking.
3 In the vSphere standard switch view, click Add Networking.
4 Select VMkernel and click Next.
5 Select Create a vSphere standard switch to create a new vSphere standard switch.
46 VMware, Inc.