350-601 Compute Practice Question
A UCS Manager administrator is deploying a service profile for a boot-from-SAN environment. The SAN switch is configured with NPV mode. The administrator notices that the WWPN of the vHBA in the service profile is not being recognized by the SAN switch. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between NPV and NPIV, where candidates mistakenly think NPV alone enables virtualized logins, but NPIV must be explicitly enabled on the upstream switch for vHBA WWPNs to be recognized.
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
✓
The upstream SAN switch has NPIV disabled
In a boot-from-SAN environment with NPV mode on the SAN switch, the upstream switch must have NPIV (N_Port ID Virtualization) enabled to allow multiple FCIDs to be assigned to a single physical link. Without NPIV, the upstream switch rejects the WWPN of the vHBA because it cannot support the virtualized N_Port IDs required for the service profile's vHBA to log in. This is the most likely cause of the WWPN not being recognized.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The WWPN pool has been exhausted and the server cannot obtain a new WWPN
Why it's wrong here
Exhausted pools would cause a failure to assign a WWPN, but the symptom is that the WWPN is not recognized, not that it's missing.
- ✗
The vHBA is not bound to a SAN pin-group
Why it's wrong here
Pin-group is for traffic prioritization, not required for WWPN recognition.
- ✗
The vHBA speed is set to auto-negotiation but the SAN switch is set to a fixed speed
Why it's wrong here
Speed mismatch would cause link issues, not WWPN recognition failure at the fabric login stage.
- ✓
The upstream SAN switch has NPIV disabled
Why this is correct
In NPV mode, the SAN switch requires NPIV on the upstream switch to register the initiator WWPNs.
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