The Service Level Agreement (SLA) mandates that each hypervisor SFP must match the maximum link speed of the SAN array. By inspecting the service processors, we see the SAN array's ports are operating at 8 Gbps. The hypervisor's ports were initially misconfigured to 16 Gbps, creating a link speed mismatch. This mismatch prevented successful link negotiation, which is why Service Processor A had "no initiators currently logged in." This failure breaks the required path redundancy, halves the available I/O bandwidth, and causes the observed low IOPS. Adjusting all four hypervisor ports to 8 Gbps resolves the configuration conflict, restores redundant paths to both service processors, and meets the performance and SLA requirements.

Dell EMC Unity: High Availability - A Detailed Review, White Paper, August 2020. Page 9, in the "Front-End Connectivity" section, describes how hosts connect to both Service Processors (SPs) to ensure no single point of failure. This design is contingent on all physical paths being correctly configured and operational, which a link speed mismatch would prevent.

Brocade Fabric OS Administration Guide (9.0.x). In the chapter on "Port Configuration," the description of the portcfgspeed command explains that for a link to be established, port speed settings must be compatible. Forcing a speed (e.g., 16 Gbps) on a port connected to a device that only supports a lower maximum speed (e.g., 8 Gbps) will result in a failed link state, such as "No_Sync."

Clark, T. (2017). Designing Storage Area Networks (3rd ed.). Addison-Wesley Professional. Chapter 4, "Fibre Channel Cabling and Components," specifies that Fibre Channel ports auto-negotiate to the highest common speed. If one port is fixed to a speed not supported by the connecting port, the link will not initialize, leading to path failure in a SAN fabric.