linux-drivers/
drivers/scsi/lpfc

Emulex LightPulse Fibre Channel HBAs

Emulex LightPulse PCI Fibre Channel host bus adapters used to connect enterprise servers to SAN storage. The line spans from early 2000s cards through current Broadcom-branded Gen 7 LPe35000/LPe36000 models still sold in 2025 for data-center and Cisco UCS deployments.

keep conf=0.94 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=scsi category=storage-scsi-ata
94%

recommendation

It should stay in the kernel because the hardware is still actively sold by Broadcom (Emulex) for enterprise SAN use, and the code is being actively maintained upstream with substantive commits landing into early 2026. No other in-tree driver covers this HBA family, so removing it would strand a meaningful slice of enterprise Fibre Channel deployments.

repository signals

35 files
119,774 source lines
549 commits, 5y
+21,378 / −13,724 lines added / removed, 5y
64 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 549 total · active in 58/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 6 commits · +43 −54 2021-05: 12 commits · +541 −87 2021-06: 12 commits · +1,537 −11 2021-07: 28 commits · +580 −276 2021-08: 21 commits · +4,637 −265 2021-09: 24 commits · +399 −145 2021-10: 11 commits · +411 −211 2021-11: 1 commit · +2 −7 2021-12: 12 commits · +270 −163 2022-01: 1 commit · +0 −1 2022-02: 20 commits · +3,203 −2,881 2022-03: 14 commits · +274 −455 2022-04: 32 commits · +1,135 −1,134 2022-05: 18 commits · +730 −386 2022-06: 10 commits · +78 −48 2022-07: 13 commits · +68 −551 2022-08: 11 commits · +271 −655 2022-09: 15 commits · +922 −1,004 2022-10: 6 commits · +272 −9 2022-11: 8 commits · +76 −34 2022-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2023-01: 13 commits · +239 −143 2023-02: 3 commits · +16 −18 2023-03: 13 commits · +173 −197 2023-04: 9 commits · +316 −239 2023-05: 13 commits · +256 −381 2023-06: 4 commits · +17 −11 2023-07: 12 commits · +324 −167 2023-08: 5 commits · +14 −31 2023-09: 3 commits · +27 −16 2023-10: 15 commits · +141 −71 2023-11: 1 commit · +1 −1 2023-12: 5 commits · +23 −14 2024-01: 17 commits · +723 −879 2024-02: 1 commit · +2 −2 2024-03: 14 commits · +205 −213 2024-04: 8 commits · +437 −418 2024-05: 1 commit · +11 −0 2024-06: 9 commits · +56 −44 2024-07: 9 commits · +113 −52 2024-08: 1 commit · +1 −1 2024-09: 9 commits · +228 −101 2024-10: 14 commits · +704 −846 2024-11: 1 commit · +2 −2 2024-12: 12 commits · +378 −201 2025-01: 9 commits · +40 −40 2025-02: 3 commits · +38 −52 2025-03: 1 commit · +2 −0 2025-04: 11 commits · +212 −63 2025-05: 2 commits · +21 −17 2025-06: 13 commits · +105 −98 2025-07: 2 commits · +51 −49 2025-08: 5 commits · +14 −20 2025-09: 15 commits · +276 −509 2025-10: 1 commit · +0 −6 2025-11: 11 commits · +328 −111 2025-12: 3 commits · +152 −47 2026-01: 1 commit · +4 −4 2026-02: 5 commits · +279 −283 2026-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. git.kernel.org

    The lpfc directory is still seeing steady upstream commits, including substantive fixes and version updates in late 2025 and February 2026.

  2. git.kernel.org

    Kconfig describes CONFIG_SCSI_LPFC as support for Emulex LightPulse Fibre Channel PCI host adapters.

  3. docs.broadcom.com

    Broadcom published a recent product brief for Emulex Gen 7 LPe35000/LPe36000 Fibre Channel HBAs, indicating the hardware family remained an actively marketed product line into 2025/2026.

  4. docs.broadcom.com

    A recent Broadcom product brief for Cisco UCS deployments lists Emulex LPe35000 Gen 7 Fibre Channel HBAs, supporting evidence of ongoing new-system deployment relevance.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

`keep` because local shell inspection showed CONFIG_SCSI_LPFC is a normal PCI SCSI/FC host adapter driver and `git log` showed active maintenance through 2026-02. No replacement upstream driver covers the same Emulex/Broadcom FC HBA family. Broadcom product-brief URLs were obtained via web search; kernel.org URLs are canonical recall, with activity corroborated by local `git log` and identity corroborated by local `sed` of drivers/scsi/Kconfig. Fibre Channel HBAs are enterprise-specific rather than mass-market, so deployments_today is `medium`, not `high`.