NEWZ: Cheap SAN Uses ATA-Over-Ethernet Protocol

[Dïscfärm]

• The EtherDrive series provides an Ethernet SAN with 7.5TB for 53 cents per gigabyte. It uses ATA-over-Ethernet (AoE) protocol to send ATA drive commands and ATA data packets between servers and a serial-ATA drive array...
  
  There is no need for a TCP/IP offload engine (TOE) because TCP/IP isn’t used and neither is SCSI. Instead, an AoE driver in a server’s operating system turns ATA drive commands into messages to be sent over an Ethernet link, through an Ethernet switch, to a Coraid drive array fitted with an Ethernet interface...

http://www.computerworld.com/hardwa...10801,105165,00.html?source=NLT_SU&nid=105165

 

[ddrueding]

The word protocol in my mind implies "industry-standard". Is there a standard for ATA-over-Ethernet? Is there a server driver as well as a client-side?

 

[sechs]

Sounds proprietary to me....

 

[cquinn]

http://searchopensource.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid39_gci1126280,00.html

Apparently the protocol is open, but is not in widespread use.