iSCSI: Decimal encoding - why 64 bits ?

["LEMAY,KEVIN (A-Roseville,ex1)" <kevin_lemay@agilent.com>]

Julian,

Why does decimal encoding support 64 bit values instead of only 32 bits?

For implementations running on 32bit machines, supporting 64 bit decimal encoding will not be fun. Sure, it can be done in software, but is it really needed?

All of the operational parameters fit in 32 bits. The only possible use for 64 bits is in authentication or vendor specific keys. Hex and base64 encoding make more sense for these cases for the long authentication keys and hex and base64 encoders/decoders must be provided by a compliant implementation anyway.

Could we restrict the decimal encoding to 32 bits and make binary values use only hex and base 64?

Thanks,

Kevin