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SCSI Initiator
In computer data storage, a SCSI initiator is the endpoint that initiates a SCSI session, that is, sends a SCSI command. The initiator usually does not provide any Logical Unit Numbers (LUNs). On the other hand, a SCSI target is the endpoint that does ''not'' initiate sessions, but instead waits for initiators' commands and provides required input/output data transfers. The target usually provides to the initiators one or more LUNs, because otherwise no read or write command would be possible. Detailed information Typically, a computer is an initiator and a data storage device is a target. As in a client–server architecture, an initiator is analogous to the client, and a target is analogous to the server. Each SCSI address (each identifier on a SCSI bus) displays behavior of initiator, target, or (rarely) both at the same time. There is nothing in the SCSI protocol that prevents an initiator from acting as a target or vice versa. SCSI initiators are sometimes wrongly called ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer Data Storage
Computer data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and Data storage, recording media that are used to retain digital data (computing), data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. The central processing unit (CPU) of a computer is what manipulates data by performing computations. In practice, almost all computers use a memory hierarchy, storage hierarchy, which puts fast but expensive and small storage options close to the CPU and slower but less expensive and larger options further away. Generally, the fast volatile technologies (which lose data when off power) are referred to as "memory", while slower persistent technologies are referred to as "storage". Even the first computer designs, Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine and Percy Ludgate's Analytical Machine, clearly distinguished between processing and memory (Babbage stored numbers as rotations of gears, while Ludgate stored numbers as displacements of rods in shuttles). Thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ISCSI Target
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. The protocol allows clients (called ''initiators'') to send SCSI commands ( ''CDBs'') to storage devices (''targets'') on remote servers. It is a storage area network (SAN) protocol, allowing organizations to consolidate storage into storage arrays while providing clients (such as database and web servers) with the illusion of locally attached SCSI disks. It mainly competes with Fibre Channel, but unlike traditional Fibre Channel which usually requires dedicated cabling, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Master/slave (technology)
Master/slave is a model of asymmetric communication or control where one device or process (the "master") controls one or more other devices or processes (the "slaves") and serves as their communication hub. In some systems, a master is selected from a group of eligible devices, with the other devices acting in the role of slaves. The ''master/slave'' terminology was first used in 1904. Since the early 21st century, the terms have become a subject of controversy from their association with slavery and some organizations have opted to replace them with alternative terms. Examples * In electronics, master/slave relationships are used to describe some of the following scenarios: ** In parallel ATA hard drive arrangements, the terms master and slave are used to describe drives on the same cable, but neither drive has control or priority over the other. ** A master clock that provides time signals used to synchronize one or more slave clocks as part of a clock network. ** In AXI ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Device Driver
In computing, a device driver is a computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer or automaton. A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabling operating systems and other computer programs to access hardware functions without needing to know precise details about the hardware being used. A driver communicates with the device through the computer bus or communications subsystem to which the hardware connects. When a calling program invokes a routine in the driver, the driver issues commands to the device (drives it). Once the device sends data back to the driver, the driver may invoke routines in the original calling program. Drivers are hardware dependent and operating-system-specific. They usually provide the interrupt handling required for any necessary asynchronous time-dependent hardware interface. Purpose The main purpose of device drivers is to provide abstraction by acting as a translator be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fault-tolerant Design
Fault tolerance is the property that enables a system to continue operating properly in the event of the failure of one or more faults within some of its components. If its operating quality decreases at all, the decrease is proportional to the severity of the failure, as compared to a naively designed system, in which even a small failure can cause total breakdown. Fault tolerance is particularly sought after in high-availability, mission-critical, or even life-critical systems. The ability of maintaining functionality when portions of a system break down is referred to as graceful degradation. A fault-tolerant design enables a system to continue its intended operation, possibly at a reduced level, rather than failing completely, when some part of the system fails. The term is most commonly used to describe computer systems designed to continue more or less fully operational with, perhaps, a reduction in throughput or an increase in response time in the event of some partial f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multipath I/O
In computer storage, multipath I/O is a fault-tolerance and performance-enhancement technique that defines more than one physical path between the CPU in a computer system and its mass-storage devices through the buses, controllers, switches, and bridge devices connecting them. As an example, a SCSI hard disk drive may connect to two SCSI controllers on the same computer, or a disk may connect to two Fibre Channel ports. Should one controller, port or switch fail, the operating system can route the I/O through the remaining controller, port or switch transparently and with no changes visible to the applications, other than perhaps resulting in increased latency. Multipath software layers can leverage the redundant paths to provide performance-enhancing features, including dynamic load balancing, traffic shaping, automatic path management, and dynamic reconfiguration. See also * Device mapper * Linux DM Multipath Device Mapper Multipath Input Output often shortened to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Digital Storage Systems Interconnect
The Digital Storage Systems Interconnect (DSSI) is a computer bus developed by Digital Equipment Corporation for connecting storage devices and clustering VAX systems. It was designed as a smaller and lower-cost replacement for the earlier DEC Computer Interconnect that would be more suitable for use in office environments. DSSI was superseded by Parallel SCSI. It was introduced in 1988 and has a bandwidth of 32 Mbit/s (4 MB/sec) and was typically limited to a length of . DSSI support was later extended to MIPS-based DECsystems and DEC Alpha-based AlphaServer systems. DSSI peripherals could be distinguished from narrow SCSI devices by their characteristic five conductor power connector featuring an extra lead intended for Battery/UPS connection to power critical components in the event of a power failure. Characteristics The major characteristics of the DSSI bus are: * Eight-bit data path * Up to eight nodes on the bus including variable numbers of initiators and targets * Di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
InfiniBand
InfiniBand (IB) is a computer networking communications standard used in high-performance computing that features very high throughput and very low latency. It is used for data interconnect both among and within computers. InfiniBand is also used as either a direct or switched interconnect between servers and storage systems, as well as an interconnect between storage systems. It is designed to be scalable and uses a switched fabric network topology. By 2014, it was the most commonly used interconnect in the TOP500 list of supercomputers, until about 2016. Mellanox (acquired by Nvidia) manufactures InfiniBand host bus adapters and network switches, which are used by large computer system and database vendors in their product lines. As a computer cluster interconnect, IB competes with Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and Intel Omni-Path. The technology is promoted by the InfiniBand Trade Association. History InfiniBand originated in 1999 from the merger of two competing designs: F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serial ATA
SATA (Serial AT Attachment) is a computer bus interface that connects host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives, optical drives, and solid-state drives. Serial ATA succeeded the earlier Parallel ATA (PATA) standard to become the predominant interface for storage devices. Serial ATA industry compatibility specifications originate from the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) which are then promulgated by the INCITS Technical Committee T13, AT Attachment (INCITS T13). History SATA was announced in 2000 in order to provide several advantages over the earlier PATA interface such as reduced cable size and cost (seven conductors instead of 40 or 80), native hot swapping, faster data transfer through higher signaling rates, and more efficient transfer through an (optional) I/O queuing protocol. Revision 1.0 of the specification was released in January 2003. Serial ATA industry compatibility specifications originate from the Serial ATA Internat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HyperSCSI
HyperSCSI is an outdated computer network Protocol (computing), protocol for accessing storage by sending and receiving SCSI commands. It was developed by researchers at the Data Storage Institute in Singapore in 2000 to 2003. HyperSCSI is unlike iSCSI in that it bypassed the internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) and works directly over Ethernet to form its storage area network (SAN). It skipped the routing, retransmission, segmentation, reassembly, and all the other problems that the TCP/IP suite addresses. Compared to iSCSI, this was meant to give a performance benefit at the cost of IP's flexibility. An independent performance test showed that performance was unstable with network congestion. Since HyperSCSI was in direct competition with the older and well established Fibre Channel, and the standardized iSCSI, it was not adopted by commercial vendors. Some researchers at Huazhong University of Science and Technology noted the failure to provide any transport layer protocol, so implemen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ISCSI
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. The protocol allows clients (called ''initiators'') to send SCSI commands ( ''CDBs'') to storage devices (''targets'') on remote servers. It is a storage area network (SAN) protocol, allowing organizations to consolidate storage into storage arrays while providing clients (such as database and web servers) with the illusion of locally attached SCSI disks. It mainly competes with Fibre Channel, but unlike traditional Fibre Channel which usually requires dedicated cabling, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
