[SLL] Rant: ATA-over-Ethernet 0x88a2

[Paul]

I thought AoE was one of the coolest technology shown
at LinuxWorld Expo last summer.  Commodity drives over
hooked up via commodity GigE switch.  But one thing that's
keeping me away is the single vendor issue.

I asked them about the high price of each drive at LinuxWorld.
A Coraid rep framed the question by comparing it to
much more expensive alternatives like NAS using FibreChannel /
InfiniBand / etc. -- theirs is much cheaper $/GB, albeit slower.
The rep also said they may sell just the AoE controller board,
so that you can install your own drive.  Not sure if they did this.

I know Coraid wrote the GPL driver so that a Linux system
can act as a AoE client; not sure if you can use this driver
to make an AoE server.  For example, run a tiny Linux distro
with the AoE-modified kernel off of a compact flash on a
mini-ITX motherboard, and hang a big drive off of it.
Yeah, Linux running on a x86 motherboard is overkill for
an AoE controller, but they you can build one AoE disk
for about $150 + the price of the disk.

I'm not sure if the idea is even legal.  Is AoE patent-
encumbered?  Will Coraid sue you if you roll your own?
I have no idea.

INSANE idea:  I *believe* USB2 allows multiple hosts,
somewhat like FireWire.  Someone please correct me if I'm
wrong!  Can one hook multiple PCs to multiple USB2 drives
via a hub or something like a USB2 "switch"?  And if so, how
does the USB2 OHCI/UHCI layer handle contention (i.e. two hosts
trying to access the same drive)?  USB2's 480MHz, so it's only
half as fast as GigE ...

Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you would post your experience
with AoE to the list after your hardware arrives.

-- Paul