Networking, UCS: Cisco UCS Windows 2008 PALO Boot Problem And Fix
There has been a know issue with firmware v1.2 and Windows 2008 boot time when using a PALO adapter. We immediately ran into this problem on our first install. On server reboot, it would take ~12 minutes from power on until Windows 2008 was loaded. The following provides more information on boot times and the fix for booting Windows 2008 with PALO adapters.
Cisco UCS PALO Details
Per UCS the PALO cards are listed as
| Name: | Cisco UCS VIC M81KR Virtual Interface Card |
| Part number: | 68-3229-05 |
| SKU: | N20-AC0002 |
Boot times based on firmware version:
| Firmware version: | 1.2(1b) |
| From powerd-off to boot: | 11 minutes 45.5 seconds |
| Firmware version: | 1.3(1c) |
| From powerd-off to boot: | 4 minutes 31.5 second |
PALO Boot Time Firmware 1.2(1b)
PALO Boot Time Firmware 1.3(1c)
So the fix is to upgrade. Not the easiest process, but not that hard either. As from the stats above, v1.3(1c) is definitely worth the upgrade! No more waiting around for 2008 to boot.
Notes: We also run RedHat Linux and VMware ESX in this environment. They boot without issues or delay with the same PALO adapters. Also, it only took 2 minutes and 16 seconds to get network connectivity up on 2008 running version 1.3(1c) firmware. Having no other good options I timed the boot using my iPhone. The above images are from screen-captures on the phone. UCS is not 3G connected :).
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