User guide

NetXtreme II User Guide

September 2013

Broadcom Corporation

Page 164 Linux iSCSI Offload Document INGSRVT78-CDUM100-R

If you wish to switch back to use the software initiator, use the following:

iscsiadm -m iface -I <iface_file_name> -n iface.transport_name -v tcp -o update

where the iface file includes the following information:

iface.net_ifacename = ethX

iface.iscsi_ifacename = <name of the iface file>

iface.transport_name = tcp

MAKING CONNECTIONS TO ISCSI TARGETS

Refer to open-iscsi documentation for a comprehensive list of iscsiadm commands. This is a sample list of commands to

discovery targets and to create iscsi connections to a target.

Add static entry

iscsiadm -m node -p <ipaddr[:port]> -T iqn.2007-05.com.broadcom:target1 -o new -I

<iface_file_name>

iSCSI target discovery using 'SendTargets'

iscsiadm -m discovery --type sendtargets -p <ipaddr[:port]> -I <iface_file_name>

iscsiadm --mode node --targetname <iqn.targetname> --portal <ipaddr[:port]> --login

List all drives active in the system

fdisk -l

MAXIMUM OFFLOAD ISCSI CONNECTIONS

With default driver parameters set, which includes 128 outstanding commands, bnx2i can offload the following number of

connections:

BCM5706/BCM5708: 28

BCM5709: 43

BCM5771x: 128

This is not a hard limit, but just a simple on-chip resource allocation math. bnx2i will be able to offload > 28 connections on

1G devices by reducing the shared queue size, which in turn limits the maximum outstanding tasks on a connection. See

Setting Values for Optional Properties for information on sq_size and rq_size. The driver logs the following message to

syslog when the maximum allowed connection offload limit is reached - “bnx2i: unable to allocate iSCSI context resources”.

LINUX ISCSI OFFLOAD FAQ

• Not all Broadcom NetXtreme II adapters support iSCSI offload.

• The iSCSI session will not recover after a hot remove and hot plug.

• For MPIO to work properly, iSCSI nopout should be enabled on each iSCSI session. Refer to open-iscsi documentation

for procedures on setting up noop_out_interval and noop_out_timeout values.

• In the scenario where multiple CNIC devices are in the system and the system is booted via Broadcom’s iSCSI boot