[Gllug] IP over SATA?

[Christian Smith]

Richard Cottrill uttered:

> Hi all,
>
> after an extended hiatus in the workforce, I've got around to re-activating
> my GLLUG email feed... So, on with the question I've been dying to ask -
>
> Is IP over SATA a good idea?
>
> Rapidly followed by "is it feasible using SATA?". I recall that some time
> ago, that someone (I believe on the GLLUG list) described SATA as being like
> a specialised implementation of Gigabit ethernet, or some such thing. If
> this were the case, then Gigabit ethernet would clearly be a lot less hassle
> for all involved; but if not, then maybe there's hope for a cheap,
> high-speed, short-haul interconnect. How many Gigabit interfaces would have
> to be aggregated to get similar throughput?


Probably not such a good idea. eSATA cable lengths are not great and 
controller and client are not peers, with the client only responding to 
commands from the controller (I may be wrong on this.)

What you may be thinking of is the encoding of the data over the physical 
layer is the same, namely 8b/10b encoding used by most new serial 
interfaces (including PCI-e) now that it's patent has expired.


>
> Just to prove that I've often spent to much time in company of the Internet
> (and so I can prove I'm not the only mad person); I even tracked down the
> original inspiration for this (or at least one implementation of it) -
> http://ipoverscsi.sourceforge.net/ I first came across a version about 10
> years ago, and this doesn't look like it...


SCSI is inherently multi-master, allowing either end to initiate transfer. 
Plus, SCSI of it's day was significantly faster than the equivalent 
ethernet, so IP over SCSI made sense for high bandwidth, low latency 
links.

SATA has less of an advantage over current ethernet, so IP over SATA would 
not be worth the effort even if it were possible.


>
> Yours,
>
> Richard
>
> BTW: Aside from crackpot questions, I'm also looking for work. Hint, hint.
>

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