On a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, you start the system from iSCSI. When you do this, the configuration details for iSCSI are passed to Windows from the iSCSI boot solution through the iSCSI Boot Firmware Table (iBFT) data structure.
These settings supersede the settings that are displayed in the user interface for the iSCSI Initiator control panel. If you change the settings in the user interface for the iSCSI Initiator control panel when you have started the system from iSCSI, you may experience unpredictable results.
The iBFT is a data structure that is used to pass control from a third-party iSCSI Initiator boot solution to the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator during the startup process.
You should set all configurations for an iSCSI boot session in the context of the iSCSI boot solution. For example, if you are using an iSCSI boot-capable network adapter as the boot device, you should set the configuration in the BIOS of the network adapter.
All the configuration data for the iSCSI session is provided by the iBFT data structure that is built by the iSCSI boot solution. Therefore, different vendors' iSCSI boot solutions may not support failover between other models and other vendors' iSCSI boot-capable network adapters or host bus adapters (HBAs). The specific behavior that you experience depends on the implementation of the iSCSI boot solution vendor. The specific behavior varies from solution to solution.
For example, the BIOS of an iSCSI boot-capable network adapter may not recognize that other network adapter devices in the system from different vendors are possible paths to the iSCSI target. The BIOS may not report these network adapter devices through the iBFT. This condition prevents the iSCSI boot solution from being able to fail over to those network adapter devices after the system has started.
The iBFT should provide configuration for an iSCSI boot Logical Unit (LU). This configuration should not be provided through the iSCSI Initiator control panel.
For more information about iBFT, visit the following Microsoft Web site: