Internet Storage Name Service

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In computing, the proposed Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS) protocol allows automated discovery, management and configuration of iSCSI and Fibre Channel devices (using iFCP gateways) on a TCP/IP network.

Contents

Features

iSNS provides management services similar to those found in Fibre Channel networks, allowing a standard IP network to operate in much the same way that a Fibre Channel storage area network does. Because iSNS is able to emulate Fibre Channel fabric services and manage both iSCSI and Fibre Channel devices, an iSNS server can be used as a consolidated configuration point for an entire storage network. However, the use of iSNS is optional for iSCSI while it is required for iFCP. Additionally, an iSNS implementation is not required by the standard to provide support for both of these protocols. [1]

Components

The iSNS standard defines four components:

The iSNS Protocol
iSNSP is a protocol that specifies how iSNS clients and servers communicate. It is intended to be used by various platforms, including switches and targets as well as server hosts.
iSNS Clients
iSNS clients are part of iSNSP aware storage devices. iSNS clients initiate transactions with iSNS servers using the iSNSP, register device attribute information in a common Discovery Domain (DD), download information about other registered clients and receive asynchronous notification of events that occur in their DD(s).
iSNS Servers
iSNS servers respond to iSNS protocol queries and requests made by iSNS clients using the iSNSP. iSNS servers initiate iSNSP State Change Notifications and store properly authenticated information submitted by a registration request in an iSNS database.
iSNS Databases
iSNS databases are the information repositories for iSNS server(s). They maintain information about iSNS client attributes; while implementations will vary, a directory-enabled implementation of iSNS, for example, might store client attributes in an LDAP directory.

Services

An iSNS implementation provides four primary services:

Name registration and storage resource discovery

iSNS implementations allow all entities in a storage network to register and query an iSNS database. Both targets and initiators can register with the iSNS database, and each entity can inquire about other initiators and targets. For example, a client initiator can obtain information about target devices from an iSNS server.

Discovery domains and login control

Administrators can use the discovery domains to divide storage nodes into manageable, non-exclusive groups. By grouping storage nodes, administrators are able to limit the login process of each host to the most appropriate subset of targets registered with the iSNS, which allows the storage network to scale by reducing the number of unnecessary logins and by limiting the amount of time each host spends establishing login relationships.

Each target is able to use login control to delegate their access control and authorization policies to an iSNS server. Such delegation is intended to promote centralized management.

State-change notification

The state-change notification (SCN) service allows an iSNS server to issue notifications about each event that affects storage nodes on the managed network. Each iSNS client may register for notifications on behalf of its storage nodes, and each client is expected to respond according to its own requirements and implementation.

Bidirectional mappings between Fibre Channel and iSCSI devices

Because the iSNS database stores naming and discovery information about both Fibre Channel and iSCSI devices, iSNS servers are able to store mappings of Fibre Channel devices to proxy iSCSI device images on the IP network. These mappings may also be made in the opposite direction, allowing iSNS servers to store mappings from iSCSI devices to proxy World Wide Names (WWNs).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SCSI</span> Set of computer and peripheral connection standards

Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, electrical, optical and logical interfaces. The SCSI standard defines command sets for specific peripheral device types; the presence of "unknown" as one of these types means that in theory it can be used as an interface to almost any device, but the standard is highly pragmatic and addressed toward commercial requirements. The initial Parallel SCSI was most commonly used for hard disk drives and tape drives, but it can connect a wide range of other devices, including scanners and CD drives, although not all controllers can handle all devices.

Internet Small Computer Systems Interface or iSCSI is an Internet Protocol-based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. iSCSI provides block-level access to storage devices by carrying SCSI commands over a TCP/IP network. iSCSI facilitates data transfers over intranets and to manage storage over long distances. It can be used to transmit data over local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), or the Internet and can enable location-independent data storage and retrieval.

Fibre Channel (FC) is a high-speed data transfer protocol providing in-order, lossless delivery of raw block data. Fibre Channel is primarily used to connect computer data storage to servers in storage area networks (SAN) in commercial data centers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Host adapter</span> Computer hardware device

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serial Attached SCSI</span> Point-to-point serial protocol for enterprise storage

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arbitrated loop</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Network block device</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fibre Channel over Ethernet</span> Computer network technology

Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) is a computer network technology that encapsulates Fibre Channel frames over Ethernet networks. This allows Fibre Channel to use 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks while preserving the Fibre Channel protocol. The specification was part of the International Committee for Information Technology Standards T11 FC-BB-5 standard published in 2009.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storage area network</span> Network which provides access to consolidated, block-level data storage

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In computing, Linux-IO (LIO) Target is an open-source implementation of the SCSI target that has become the standard one included in the Linux kernel. Internally, LIO does not initiate sessions, but instead provides one or more Logical Unit Numbers (LUNs), waits for SCSI commands from a SCSI initiator, and performs required input/output data transfers. LIO supports common storage fabrics, including FCoE, Fibre Channel, IEEE 1394, iSCSI, iSCSI Extensions for RDMA (iSER), SCSI RDMA Protocol (SRP) and USB. It is included in most Linux distributions; native support for LIO in QEMU/KVM, libvirt, and OpenStack makes LIO also a storage option for cloud deployments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SCST</span>

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References

  1. Tseng, J.; Gibbons, K.; Travostino, F.; Du, C.; Souza, J. (2005). "RFC 4171: Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS)". doi:10.17487/RFC4171.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)