This release supports all FC host bus adapters (HBAs) that meet the following requirements:
- The HBA has a Storport miniport driver. Other types of drivers, such as SCSIport miniport and monolithic drivers, are not supported.
- The HBA driver is digitally signed by the Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher for use on your version of Windows. These drivers are often described as Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) signed WHQL certified, or Windows certified.
- The HBA driver is dated after January 1, 2008. We recommend the most recent available driver that meets all of these conditions.
- The HBA is officially supported by the driver and meets all requirements specified for use with the driver. These requirements include hardware version, firmware version, and bus slot capability.
Important! Select FC HBAs carefully to ensure that the HBAs are suitable for use in a multipath environment with particular I/O loads. For example, some low-end HBAs support a limited number of simultaneous connections that can be made from each port. These HBAs can be unsuitable for use in an environment where the HBA needs to connect to several Oracle FS System Controller or Pillar Axiom Slammer ports.
Install and configure the HBA and HBA driver according to the vendor documentation.
Suitable HBAs and drivers can be found in the Storage section of the Windows Server Catalog (http://www.windowsservercatalog.com). In addition, the HBA vendor driver download page, or driver release notes, will usually specify that a driver is WHQL certified. After a driver is installed in the system, you can use the Windows Device Manager to check that it is appropriately signed.