350-601 Storage Network Practice Question
A medium-sized enterprise has a Cisco UCS environment with two Fabric Interconnects (FIs) in a cluster. There are 10 blade servers, each with a VIC 1340 adapter. The SAN consists of two MDS 9148S switches in a VSAN for storage. Each server is configured with two vHBAs (primary and secondary) connecting to the SAN via the FIs. Recently, after a firmware upgrade on the MDS switches, several servers are unable to boot from SAN. The storage administrator confirms that the storage array LUNs are accessible from the MDS switches. The UCS administrator reports that the vHBAs show a 'link down' status on the FI. Which action should be taken to resolve the issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between storage array LUN masking (target-side) and FC fabric zoning (switch-side); the trap here is that candidates assume a 'link down' on the vHBA must be a physical or HBA configuration issue, when in fact it is a fabric-level problem caused by missing or inactive zone sets after a switch upgrade.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Verify the active zone set on the MDS switches and re-activate it if necessary.
The 'link down' status on the vHBAs indicates that the Fibre Channel fabric is not properly delivering the FLOGI (Fabric Login) response to the initiators. Since the storage LUNs are accessible from the MDS switches, the issue is likely that the active zone set was deactivated or not saved after the firmware upgrade, preventing the vHBAs from logging into the fabric. Re-activating the zone set on the MDS switches will re-establish the FC zones and allow the vHBAs to complete FLOGI and resume boot from SAN.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reconfigure the vHBAs on the UCS Manager with new WWPNs.
Why it's wrong here
WWPNs are persistent; reconfiguration is unnecessary.
- ✗
Check the storage array LUN masking and re-apply LUN access.
Why it's wrong here
LUNs are accessible from MDS, so storage is fine.
- ✓
Verify the active zone set on the MDS switches and re-activate it if necessary.
Why this is correct
Firmware upgrade may deactivate the zone set.
- ✗
Downgrade the MDS firmware to the previous version.
Why it's wrong here
Not necessary; configuration issue is more likely.
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