Jun
OpenSolaris Project: COMSTAR - COmmon Multiprotocol SCSI TARget
OpenSolaris Build 90 allows multiple products, protocols and device types to be supported by any Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS)-based server with a common framework - COMSTAR or the COmmon Multiprotocol SCSI TARget.
This OpenSolaris project provides a software framework enabling any OpenSolaris host to be turned into a SCSI target storage device, which can be accessed over the network by initiator hosts. With COMSTAR, a SCSI target subsystem is broken down into independent functional modules that are then integrated by the SCSI Target Mode Framework (STMF).
COMSTAR’s framework allows for all SCSI device types (tape, disk, SES, etc.) connected to any transport (Fibre Channel, iSCSI, iSER, SAS, FCoE, etc.) with concurrent access to all LUNs (Logical Unit Numbers) and a single point of management.
“A key objective of COMSTAR is to provide a simple framework for users to add transport protocols and device types to build new block storage devices,” blogs Sun’s Scott Tracy. “This allows any block storage device to be built from one common framework. No other commercially available operating system allows this type of flexibility or coordination.”
During this past May’s CommunityOne gathering, Sun Engineering Manager Peter Buckingham gave a presentation on COMSTAR that includes instructions on creating a multiprotocol server using ZFS to create a file share, installing COMSTAR and using COMSTAR to create a FC target. Visit the Storage Stop blog to view the video.
