=====Fibre Channel=====
All the lab hardware is Qlogic 2562, 2564, or 2662. There isn't a switch, so everything is point-to-point.

Put this in /etc/modprobe.d/qla2xxx.conf:

  options qla2xxx qlini_mode=exclusive

This allows dual-port cards to be targets (T) and initiators (I) simultaneously. To ensure targets don't get plugged into targets and initiators into initiators, I've adopted these conventions:
  * dual-port cards put the initiator on the first port and the target on the second port. (IT)
  * quad-port cards go the other way: target / initiator / target / initiator.

Remember the ports on the 16G cards are backwards when you're figuring out what plugs into what.

I want a switch.

====QConvergeConsole CLI====
Download from Marvell or find it in ~/Library/hardware/qlogic-2xxx. Installing the .deb on Debian 12 created a problem for me where it couldn't find libncli.so.

  LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib64 /opt/QLogic_Corporation/QConvergeConsoleCLI/qaucli

...or install the RPM instead.

  * If you see "IO_PAGE_FAULT" in dmesg every 5 seconds, add "iommu=pt" to the kernel command line. It's probably specific to EPYC CPUs.
  * The 26xx cards are perfectly happy to boot MBR drives in BIOS mode.
  * The 26xx cards do not have dual personality. They are storage-only.

====Speed====
8G Fibre Channel goes about 7.9 Gbps. 16G goes 14. Both protocols can approach line rate to a ramdisk without having to try very hard.

FC gear is interoperable across three generations. In testing, everything was compatible and worked as expected except for 16G optics in 8G ports: those negotiated 4G connections instead of 8G.

The difference in power and heat from different generations of optics is not measurable. 16G optics don't require heatsinks.

====NPIV====
NPIV can't be done without a switch. See 2025-01-01-fc-vports.txt for how to do it if I ever get a switch.

===NVMe===
8G gear can't speak NVMe. I didn't try it with the 16G gear yet because I couldn't stand the noise of the fans.

====16G WWNs====
  * uninstalled
    - 51402ec000f265ac
    - 51402ec000f265ae
  * uninstalled
    - 51402ec000f1ef48
    - 51402ec000f1ef4a 

====8G WWNs====
  * shark
    - 21000024ff5db098
    - 21000024ff5db099
  * duckling
    - 21000024ff5db100
    - 21000024ff5db101
  * southpark
    - 21000024ff668780
    - 21000024ff668781
    - 21000024ff668782
    - 21000024ff668783
  * uninstalled
    - 21000024ff6686f8
    - 21000024ff6686f9
    - 21000024ff6686fa
    - 21000024ff6686fb
  * uninstalled
    - 21000024ff522dac
    - 21000024ff522dad
  * uninstalled
    - 21000024ff5875fe
    - 21000024ff5875ff
  * uninstalled
    - 21000024ff31eb4c
    - 21000024ff31eb4d
  * uninstalled
    - 21000024ff3af5ea
    - 21000024ff3af5eb
  * uninstalled
    - 21000024ff5f1830
    - 21000024ff5f1831