[meglamaniac]

Yes assignement should be automatic.
There is no way to manually assign an IP without having access to the OS of the device you want to assign it to - it's set client-side not server-side if you don't use DHCP.

I'm starting to wonder if your SAN thingy is actually defective, but before deciding on that I'd suggest taking it to someone elses network and trying it there to double check.