I'd like to propose a project to implement Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) initiator and target functionality for OpenSolaris.
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is a newly proposed standard that is being developed by INCITS T11. The FCoE protocol specification maps Fibre Channel natively over Ethernet and is independent of the Ethernet forwarding scheme. It allows an evolutionary approach towards I/O consolidation by preserving all Fibre Channel constructs, maintaining the same latency, security, and traffc management attributes of FC while preserving investments in FC tools, training, and SANs. FCoE recognizes FC as the dominant storage protocol in the data center while giving customers a viable I/O consolidation solution. The proposed project will deliver two new kernel driver modules: - fcoe: Virtual FCA driver for Leadville, functioning as FCoE initiator - fcoet: Virtual FCA driver for COMSTAR, functioning as FCoE target As FCA drivers, fcoe and fcoet conform to standard Leadville/COMSTAR FCA programming guide, which means no change of Leadville stack and COMSTAR is required. The administration function will be implemented via new sub-commands of the standard fcadm utility. Both drivers send/receive FCoE frames through GLDv3 MAC client interface, hence will work with normal Network Interface Cards and VNICs in Crossbow. The initial implementation will not take advantage of hardware accelerations, but will eventually support accelerations like FC CRC and FCoE packet classification provided by specific hardwares. The latest FCoE documents could be accessed at: http://www.fcoe.com http://www.t11.org/fcoe Initially, the project will be endorsed by the Storage Community. The initial leaders for the project would be: * Zhong Wang * Reed Liu * Roger Dong Regards, Zhong Wang _______________________________________________ storage-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/storage-discuss
