VMNic - PCIe Fibre Channel Card dont appear as vmnic

[joaofrias]

Hello, Good Morning.

I am testing a PCIe Fibre Channel Card and the card dont appear as vmnic

I need help to see if is compatibility or not with ESXI 6.5.

The Card needs to be capable to SRV-IO for work as vmnic?

Wait for feedback,

Best Regards.

João Frias | Cloudsymbiosis

[Geogee]

Fibre Channel Cards will be visible as HBA (Host Bus Adapter) cards, not a Network Cards.

Why you need to see them as VMNics?

[Giodomi]

Exactly you should have on the storage adapter the HBA correspondent to the Fibre Channel Card that you installed on the server.
If you cannot seeing them maybe it's a license/mode configuration that you should do via Bios on the card.
Which is the vendor/model? Did you check the documentation?

[e_espinel]

Hello.
With the following command you should see the FC card, which is an HBA and in VMware it would be vmhba

# esxcli storage core adapter list

we must obtain the Vendor ID (VID), Device ID (DID), Sub-Vendor ID (SVID), and Sub-Device ID (SDID) using the vmkchdev command:

vmkchdev -l |grep vmhba1

000:16.0 1000:0030 15ad:1976 vmkernel vmhba1

In this example, the values are:

VID = 1000
DID = 0030
SVID = 15ad
SDID = 1976
 
In the following link you can verify which version of VMware vSphere and under which parameters the FC card is compatible.
https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php

[joaofrias]

Thanks for reply!

I can see my Fibre Channel Card in Storage > Adapters,

Its vmhba as picture show.

The command executed: "vmkchdev -l |grep vmhba3"
Return this:

0000:05:00.0 10df:f015 10df:f015 vmkernel vmhba3.

If i understood, the fiber channel card its for connect shared storage to host, using iSCSI right or not?

In this weekend i will have a job that consist in put fiber channel cards in 3 hosts and connect them in a various switches for redundancy.

Can u provide me a example of that configuration as iSCSI in Fiber Channel? I know that all three servers need to have same structure of network to work. I have a vCenter Server 6.5 that manage all 3 hosts.

My question about PCIe Fibre Channel Card dont appear as vmnic its because in Windows i can use this fiber channel card as NIC to get more speed in network.

Have a nice day too all!

Thanks again!!

[Giodomi]

in your case looking at the model of HBAs, you are using Fibre Channel as a protocol to connect to your storage so the iSCIS is basically encapsulated on FC Frame.
On the Storage side they probably need to configure the zoning (on the FC Switch) and the masking (on the Storage Box)to let your hosts see the LUNs.
The WWN is similar to a MAC Address, it's unique and you need to have it in order to configure the storage in FC, that from what I see it's your case.

In these case it's normal that you see them on storage because they are not cards for network purposes but storage HBAs.
Let me know if now is more clear or you need further informations

[e_espinel · Accepted solution]

Hello.
Here is the detail of the minimum driver and firmware combination for version 6.5 Update3

https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=io&productid=5087&deviceCat...

The Emulex LPe 1250 card is a fiber channel HBA, it connects with fiber channel cables, not Ethernet cables.

The switch where an FC HBA is connected is also FC and it is called SAN Switch, in this switch you have to configure the access of the HBA to the external Storage Controller.

ISCSI is a type of connection that uses Ethernet cards (NIC), which in VMware are vmnic.

With a HBA fiber channel adapter you have another type of connection, so you see the HBA in Storage > Adapter.

[joaofrias]

Thank you all for the explanation. Now its more clear.

Good Work for all!

Have a nice Day

Best Regards,

João Frias | Cloudsymbiosis