I did no get the HBAs.  They are Broadcom BCM5709C NICs.

That must be what I'm missing.  Do you know where I can get the correct driver?  The Dell Support driver download site lists a Server 2008 x64 driver.  I need a certified Server 2008 R2 driver.

FYI.  I'm following the Dell document named "Instructions to Perform Boot from iSCSI for Dell Storage Arrays."  Thanks.

The ticket with Dell support is now escalated.  All settings are correct and there is no documentation that works.  The Windows Pre-install environment will not see the iSCSI volumes.  In my opinion, Dell just sold me a feature that doesn't work.

Just get some real iSCSI HBAs; Qlogic QLE4062C's. Broadcom iSCSI offload isn't a full hardware iSCSI solution, but the Qlogic HBAs are.

Here are my reasons for purchasing the NICs instead of the HBAs:

- $1,200 dual port HBA vs $550 quad port NIC is a consideration.  I can ports from different NICs for boot redundancy and networking traffic.

- I specifically asked for the boot from iSCSI SAN functionality from the Dell sales reps.  They spec'ed out those NICs

- The NIC is marketed to boot from SAN on Dell servers.  FALSE ADVERTISING???

Depending on the version of F/W on the card, there is either an options about first boot or you need to tell it not to boot off the iscsi disk.  Enable the disk, but not boot off of it.   If you dont do this, it will log out of the storage and when you go to look for volumes, it will not be present.    If you are using software boot, the built in driver should work, if not, there is a microsoft article on how to remove the drivers off the R2 CD so the new drivers will load.

there is a article on Dell website that should work if you dont have ISOE.

mshen112,

Did you get your answer?

jp