Re: [Aoetools-discuss] OpenVMS AoE initiator

[Ed C. <ed....@ac...>]

On 11/20/2017 06:32 PM, Swift Griggs wrote:
> 
> Is there an OpenVMS AoE initiator ? I'm guessing there isn't. We (folks 
> here at the PARSEC Group) might be interested in writing one. However, 
> right now I'm looking for a good starting point. I took a look at the 
> code in the Linux kernel. I also had a peek at the FreeBSD driver 
> package, which is a bit more self-contained.
> 
> Can anyone recommend a good place to start? Some nice modular 
> initiator-code would be great. We haven't decided on anything yet and we 
> don't know what kind of code-license we'll be using. So, I'm guessing 
> BSD-licensed stuff will be the most welcome.
> 
> Any advice or warnings are welcome.

You might like the initiator in Quanstrom's plan 9 distribution:

   http://www.quanstro.net/plan9/9atom/index.html

... called "devaoe".

I tried to download it just now but couldn't.

If I knew about an OpenVMS AoE initiator, I've forgotten.

The initiator is very simple until you want to have multiple
outstanding AoE commands.  Unfortunately, it's also very slow
without multiple outstanding commands.  If performance isn't a
concern, you could get very simple indeed.

Another performance thing that adds complexity is the avoidance of 
copying by setting up segments for DMA.  Linux has a pretty 
idiosyncratic way of doing that.  I have no idea whether it's better in 
OpenVMS.

-- 
   Ed