Messages in this thread | | | Date | Tue, 9 Sep 2003 09:33:47 -0700 | From | Keith Lofstrom <> | Subject | Re: Hot Swapping IDE using USB2 cage |
| |
On Tue, Sep 09, 2003 at 04:01:01PM +0100, Mark Watts wrote: > This isn't IDE hotswap, its USB hotswap with USB Mass-Storage devices.
Taxinomically, from a kernel-centric viewpoint, you are correct.
However, from the point of view of users (remember them?) it is an LBA48 ATA6 IDE device in a bare removable cage that is getting loaded and unloaded, while the system is running. The fact that, inside the server case, there are two extra interfaces and an always-connected USB2 cable is really not that important. That is why I called it "functional" IDE hotswap.
True, the bandwidth is lower, it is a distasteful kludge, and it is more expensive than a hypothetical, purely IDE solution. However, a pure solution is not now available, and the pursuit of that may be a distraction from other pressing issues.
My real concern with the method is that somebody may change chipsets for the USB2 to IDE interface, and the hotswap will no longer work with the new chipset. Or the USB mass storage module might get "improved". Thus a direct IDE-chipset-driven hotswap scheme is still desirable, but perhaps not with the same urgency.
Keith
-- Keith Lofstrom keithl@ieee.org Voice (503)-520-1993 KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon" Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
| |