Re: Integration of SCST in the mainstream Linux kernel

[Jeff Garzik <jeff@garzik.org>]

Linus Torvalds wrote:
> On Mon, 4 Feb 2008, Matt Mackall wrote:
>> But ATAoE is boring because it's not IP. Which means no routing,
>> firewalls, tunnels, congestion control, etc.
> 
> The thing is, that's often an advantage. Not just for performance.
> 
>> NBD and iSCSI (for all its hideous growths) can take advantage of these
>> things.
> 
> .. and all this could equally well be done by a simple bridging protocol 
> (completely independently of any AoE code).
> 
> The thing is, iSCSI does things at the wrong level. It *forces* people to 
> use the complex protocols, when it's a known that a lot of people don't 
> want it. 
> 
> Which is why these AoE and FCoE things keep popping up. 
> 
> It's easy to bridge ethernet and add a new layer on top of AoE if you need 
> it. In comparison, it's *impossible* to remove an unnecessary layer from 
> iSCSI.
> 
> This is why "simple and low-level is good". It's always possible to build 
> on top of low-level protocols, while it's generally never possible to 
> simplify overly complex ones.

Never discount "easy" and "just works", which is what IP (and TCP) gives 
you...

Sure you can use a bridging protocol and all that jazz, but I wager, to 
a network admin yet-another-IP-application is easier to evaluate, deploy 
and manage on existing networks.

	Jeff