Virtual Function Boot In Single-Root and Multi-Root I/O Virtualization Environments

1 . A method for virtual function boot in a system including a single-root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) enabled server configured to implement a plurality of virtual machines (VMs) and a virtual machine manager (VMM) and a storage adapter including at least one physical function (PF) and configured to implement a plurality of virtual functions, wherein the SR-IOV enabled server and the physical storage adapter are communicatively couplable, comprising:

upon interconnection of the storage adapter with the SR-IOV enabled server and boot of the SR-IOV enabled server and storage adapter, loading a PF driver of the PF of the storage adapter onto the SR-IOV enabled server utilizing the virtual machine manager of the SR-IOV enable server;

creating a plurality of virtual functions utilizing the PF driver;

detecting each of the plurality of virtual functions on an interconnection bus utilizing the VMM;

maintaining a boot list associated with the plurality of virtual functions;

querying the storage adapter for the boot list associated with the plurality of virtual functions utilizing a VMBIOS associated with the plurality of VMs, the VMBIOS being configured to detect the boot list associated with the plurality of virtual functions;

presenting the detected boot list to a VM boot manager of the VMM utilizing the VMBIOS; and

booting each of the plurality of virtual machines utilizing each of the virtual functions, wherein each VF of the plurality of VFs is assigned to a VM of the plurality of VMs via an interconnect passthrough between the VMM and the plurality of VMs, wherein each of a plurality of virtual disks (VDs) is mapped to a VF of the plurality of virtual functions utilizing the VM boot manager.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the interconnection of the storage adapter with the SR-IOV enabled server and boot of the SR-IOV enabled server and storage adapter comprises:

interconnecting the physical storage adapter to the SR-IOV enabled server via the interconnection bus;

booting SR-IOV enabled server firmware and physical storage adapter firmware; and

during SR-IOV enabled server firmware and physical storage adapter firmware boot, identifying the physical function of the physical storage adapter as a controller of the SR-IOV enabled server utilizing the virtual machine manager.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the maintaining a boot list associated with the plurality of virtual functions comprises:

maintaining a boot list associated with the plurality of virtual functions, wherein storage adapter firmware is configured to maintain and track boot data for each virtual function.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the querying the storage adapter for the boot list associated with the plurality of virtual functions utilizing a VMBIOS associated with the plurality of VMs comprises:

querying the storage adapter firmware for the boot list associated with the plurality of virtual functions utilizing a VMBIOS associated with the plurality of VMs, the VMBIOS being configured to detect the boot list associated with the plurality of virtual functions.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage adapter comprises:

a MegaRAID card.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the interconnection bus comprises:

a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) interconnection bus.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the interconnection passthrough comprises:

a PCIe passthrough.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing a diagnostic message indicative of a status of at least one virtual function drivers.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the providing a diagnostic message indicative of a status of at least one virtual function drivers comprises:

transmitting a status signal from the at least one virtual function driver to the storage adapter, the status signal being indicative of the status of the at least one virtual function driver;

storing information associated with the status signal utilizing storage adapter firmware;

relaying the status signal from the storage adapter to the PF driver in the VM manager;

relaying the status signal from the PF driver to at least one of an error handler of the VM manager or management tool of the VM manager; and

transmitting a user signal to a user interface from the management tool, wherein the user signal is configured to trigger a pre-determined message selected based on a characteristic of the status signal.

10 . A system for virtual function boot in a system comprising:

a single-root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) server configured to implement a plurality of virtual machines (VMs) and a virtual machine manager (VMM); and

a storage adapter including at least one physical function (PF), storage adapter configured to implement a plurality of virtual functions, the storage adapter being communicatively couplable to the SR-IOV enabled server via a PCIe slot of the SR-IOV enabled server, wherein, upon interconnection of the storage adapter with the SR-IOV enabled server, the storage adapter and the SR-IOV enabled server are configured to:

load a PF driver of the PF of the storage adapter onto the SR-IOV enabled server utilizing the virtual machine manager of the SR-IOV enable server;

create a plurality of virtual functions utilizing the PF driver;

detect each of the plurality of virtual functions on an interconnection bus utilizing the VMM;

maintain a boot list associated with the plurality of virtual functions;

query the storage adapter for the boot list associated with the plurality of virtual functions utilizing a VMBIOS associated with the plurality of VMs, the VMBIOS being configured to detect the boot list associated with the plurality of virtual functions;

present the detected boot list to a VM boot manager of the VMM utilizing the VMBIOS; and

boot each of the plurality of virtual machines utilizing each of the virtual functions, wherein each VF of the plurality of VFs is assigned to a VM of the plurality of VMs via an interconnect passthrough between the VMM and the plurality of VMs, wherein each of a plurality of virtual disks (VDs) is mapped to a VF of the plurality of virtual functions utilizing the VM boot manager.

11 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the storage adapter comprises:

a MegaRAID card.