HP Proliant Firmware Update Potential NIC Issue

UPDATE 4th May 2014:  HP have released an updated version of the Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP) Version 2014.02.0(B) (2nd May) that resolves the issue originally covered in this post.  You can find the update here which also includes an unrelated fix to address the recent OpenSSL HeartBleed security vulnerability.  Thanks to Rotem Agmon for providing the heads-up on this new HP update, also check out Rotem’s blog which can be found here.

I like to ensure my home lab servers firmware revisions are up to date from time to time and noticed this recent HP advisory (c04258304: dated 18th April 2014) warning about a possible issue when performing a latest firmware update to some models of HP Proliant servers, which are running particular Broadcom based network cards. The HP advisory can be found here.

The potential issue is described by HP as being:

On certain HP ProLiant servers, certain HP Broadcom-Based Network adapters listed in the Scope may become non-functional when they are updated with the Comprehensive Configuration Management (CCM) firmware Version 7.8.21 using firmware smart component, HP Smart Update Manager (HP SUM) or the HP Service Pack for ProLiant (HP SPP) 2014.2.0.

Having your NICs become “non-functional” even in a lab environment is far from ideal (although in reality these things happen from time to time to most hardware vendors) so if you run an HP Proliant server in your lab I recommend you read on.  The following is a list of the network cards that according to the advisory are impacted by the firmware update:

• HP NC373T PCIe Multifunction Gig Server Adapter
• HP NC373F PCIe Multifunction Gig Server Adapter
• HP NC373i Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter
• HP NC374m PCIe Multifunction Adapter
• HP NC373m Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter
• HP NC324i PCIe Dual Port Gigabit Server Adapter
• HP NC326i PCIe Dual Port Gigabit Server Adapter
• HP NC326m PCI Express Dual Port Gigabit Server Adapter
• HP NC325m PCIe Quad Port Gigabit Server Adapter
• HP NC320i PCIe Gigabit Server Adapter
• HP NC320m PCI Express Gigabit Server Adapter
• HP NC382i DP Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter
• HP NC382T PCIe DP Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter
• HP NC382m DP 1GbE Multifunction BL-c Adapter
• HP NC105i PCIe Gigabit Server Adapter

I run a mixture of HP Proliant entry level servers in my home lab as they have traditionally offered great bang for buck, especially when there are cash back deals to be had (check out the

TechHead Hot Deals

section for regular hardware and software deals that I come across and may be of interest).  Although I don’t run all of my home lab servers concurrently, due to power cost considerations, depending on what I am working on or am wanting to learn I will use one or more of the following servers: HP Proliant ML115 G5, ML110 G6, ML110 G7, MicroServer N36L.

I know many of my fellow home lab enthusiasts also run these models of server so I’ve compiled the details of the chipsets used on the NICs of the HP Proliant ML110, ML115 and MicroServer range.  I have highlighted in red those ML110,ML115 and MicroServer models that, according to the provided list in the advisory, are impacted by this particular firmware update.  It should be noted however that there does appear to be a discrepancy as the ML110 G6 and ML110 G7models are also mentioned as being affected (see the server list at the bottom of the advisory) although their actual network adapter models aren’t included in the main list of impacted HP Broadcom-based network adapters.  I have highlighted those in the table below in orange.  I would personally err on the side of caution and also not update your ML110 G6 and ML110 G7’s until a suitable update is provided – just to be on the safe side.

Keep checking back on the HP support site or for any updates to the original advisory,  I’d imagine it won’t take too long for HP to provide one.