IP Storage BOF (ips) Wednesday, March 29 at 1530-1730 ================================ CHAIRS: Mark Bradley David Lee DESCRIPTION: While file storage protocols like NFS and AFS have long operated over IP-based networks, block storage protocols such as SCSI and ATA have yet to make the leap from non-IP based interconnects to IP-based networks. With the emergence of gigabit and 10-gigabit IP networks, transporting block storage over IP networks is increasingly attractive. An IETF working group is the right forum to deal with the many technical issues associated with IP Storage. These issues include the following. * A standard, interoperable, high-performance, reliable transport protocol for SCSI over IP is needed. Current thinking is that a simple protocol over TCP can do the job. Transport of ATA over IP is related, but there is no agreement as to need to support it. * Methods for configuring and discovering storage devices need to be defined. As part of the work, the group will need to determine whether and how to leverage other IETF work in this area (e.g. zeroconf, LDAP, Service Location Protocol). * Methods for the reduction of network stack processing overhead at the storage clients and servers need to be considered and possibly incorporated into the protocol * Integration of secure communication mechanisms that support high-speed data transfer and restricted access to storage devices -- leveraging existing security solutions (e.g., IPsec, SCSI Access Control) whenever possible. * Bridging to other SCSI-based interconnects (including Fibre Channel) needs to be defined * SNMP MIBs and/or CIM object models for SCSI-based devices may be necessary * QoS issues need to be considered * IPv6 and NAT interoperability The ANSI T10, T11, and T13 committees currently control the SCSI, Fibre Channel, and ATA storage standards. The working group will need to determine the extent of its collaboration with those committees. Some progress on these issues has been made already: * To get the ball rolling, Julian Satran and others have posted a preliminary SCSI over TCP draft. It can be found at: ftp://ftp.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-satran-scot-00.txt ftp://ftp.isi.edu/internet-drafts/draft-satran-scot-00.txt AGENDA: 15:30-15:35 Review of BOF agenda and meeting objectives (A. Mankin/D. Lee/M. Bradley) 15:35-15:55 IP Storage needs and goals (M. Bradley/D. Nagle) 15:55-16:25 Approaches (10 minutes each) 15:55-16:05 NetSCSI (G. Finn) 16:05-16:15 iSCSI presention (C. Sapuntzakis) 16:15-16:25 Other encapsulation/protocol approaches (P. von Stamwitz) 16:25-16:55 Proposed charter (M. Bradley/C. Sapuntzakis/D. Lee) 16:55-17:30 Open Discussion MAILING LIST: The mailing list is at ips@ece.cmu.edu, to subscribe send "subscribe ips" as the text to majordomo@ece.cmu.edu A web site has been setup at http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ips/