Re: iSCSI boot

[David Robinson <David.Robinson@sun.com>]

Douglas Otis wrote:
> I think you misunderstand where this code would exist.  It would not be
> within the DHCP/PXE PROM code.
> 
> Use the existing environment and previously defined parameters in
> conjunction with existing servers and existing protocols.

I clearly don't understand your point.  The purpose of the iSCSI boot
draft is to define a mechanism to determine where the "root" disk is
using standard protocols, most notable DHCP. Once the root disk is
accessed and the operating system is loaded, everything is done
using the naming and discovery mechanisms that will be defined.

Using sophisticated protocols like LDAP may be appropriate once a
kernel is loaded and should be defined as part of the naming and
discovery design, but it is not a boot issue. The richness of LDAP
is complete overkill for the initial boot environment.

As a practical example, NFS clients today can boot using either
bootparams or DHCP to load the initial root partition, once the
kernel is loaded it is common to "remount" the root partition
using the full NFS mount mechanisms. An iSCSI initiator could
do the same thing to "relogin" and use the full set of options
that may not be present in the boot environment.

	-David