Is it possible to use Linux as a Fibre Channel Raid Disk Box?

Question

You probably all know the relatively simple RAID boxes exporting a bunch of SATA disks as one big drive via FC, SAS or iSCSI, like the HP StorageWorks MSA2000, Infortrends EonStore series or many different other models from different manufacturers.

Is it possible to create such a device with Linux, a few disks and an FC controller, using the controller in the reverse direction than usual?

This would come handy to test some ideas and concepts in an emerging SAN environment.

Solution 1

SCST -- is a generic SCSI target subsystem for Linux (SCST) is an alternative implementation of a SCSI target subsystem for Linux. It provides unified, consistent interface between SCSI target drivers and Linux kernel as well as between Linux kernel and storage backend handlers, connecting target drivers with real or emulated storage backend.

SCST allows creation of sophisticated storage devices, which provide advanced functionality, like replication, thin provisioning, deduplication, high availability, automatic backup, etc. Another class of such devices are Virtual Tape Libraries (VTL) as well as other disk-based backup solutions. SCST created devices not limited by IP networking only. They can use any link which supports SCSI-style data exchange, including Fibre Channel, iSCSI, SAS, InfiniBand and parallel (Wide) SCSI. It might well be that your favorite storage appliance running SCST in the firmware.

Solution 2

Another way to do it is to use LIO Target: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIO_Target At this point, this is the solution that has been merged into the Linux mainline branch and support has been added to a number of distributions.

Comments

[FooBee]

That is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a lot!

[MattBianco]

There is a good tutorial available that is current and maintained, with the title "SCST Configuration How To Using Gentoo Linux" if anyone is interested in setting it up on Gentoo