X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft Exchange V6.5
Received: by onstor-exch02.onstor.net 
	id <01C714B8.431F2734@onstor-exch02.onstor.net>; Thu, 30 Nov 2006 11:46:43 -0800
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-class: urn:content-classes:message
Subject: RE: USB port on Cougar - can I get a Hail-Yeah?
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 11:46:40 -0800
Message-ID: <BB375AF679D4A34E9CA8DFA650E2B04E0193D45F@onstor-exch02.onstor.net>
In-Reply-To: <20061130104838.44e77de3@ripper.onstor.net>
X-MS-Has-Attach: 
X-MS-TNEF-Correlator: 
Thread-Topic: USB port on Cougar - can I get a Hail-Yeah?
thread-index: AccUsCXuAy48cPCgR5yAooinYthMtgABzb3Q
From: "Brian Stark" <brian.stark@onstor.com>
To: "Andy Sharp" <andy.sharp@onstor.com>
Cc: "Jay Michlin" <jay.michlin@onstor.com>,
	"Tim Gardner" <tim.gardner@onstor.com>

Good observation from the training session.  Because of issues like
that, the question about first time install has been brought up before.
If the filer supported DHCP, the config could be done via ssh and the
console connection wouldn't be needed.=20

I've also thought about using USB instead of the standard DB9 or RJ45
for the console port.  The problem with that approach is it obsoletes
all of the terminal servers we have in the lab.


Brian



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Sharp [mailto:andy.sharp@onstor.com]=20
> Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 10:49 AM
> To: Brian Stark
> Cc: Jay Michlin; Tim Gardner
> Subject: Re: USB port on Cougar - can I get a Hail-Yeah?
>=20
> Ah well, if it's not already on the chip, I don't think it's=20
> worth adding another chip for,  unless it's tiny and easy. =20
> One thing I remember from training is the moment when we were=20
> supposed to do a "from scratch" install, which requires you=20
> connect to the serial port.
> We all looked at each other and realized that there wasn't a=20
> laptop in the room with a serial port on it.  I guess the SEs=20
> probably have a serial dongle in their bag (at least after=20
> the first time), but it was a bit of a moment, especially=20
> because training provides the laptops.
>=20
> Cheers,
>=20
> a
>=20
>=20
>  On Thu, 30 Nov 2006
> 10:33:23 -0800 "Brian Stark" <brian.stark@onstor.com> wrote:
>=20
> > We've looked at USB, primarly because it's so pervasive. =20
> The problem=20
> > is that to get native USB support, we have to put a fairly=20
> large chip=20
> > down that gives us a bunch of other stuff that we don't need.  This=20
> > then brings up the ever present issue of board space.  We=20
> also weren't=20
> > sure how to make USB mechanically feasible in the field=20
> since hanging=20
> > things off of the box via a USB cable or with a USB flash=20
> was deemed=20
> > undesireable by marketing.  If the USB drive or device was embedded=20
> > inside the chassis, that's another story.  We thought this may be=20
> > useful for development, but it wasn't something we wanted customers=20
> > monkeying with.
> >=20
> > Anyway, I'll keep USB in mind since it happens that the=20
> HT-2000 has a=20
> > companion chip called the HT-1000 that provides USB (along with a=20
> > bunch of other stuff as mentioned above).  As we talked about the=20
> > other night, it basically comes down to board space.
> >=20
> >=20
> > Brian
> > =20
> >=20
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Jay Michlin
> > > Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 9:20 AM
> > > To: Andy Sharp; Brian Stark
> > > Cc: Tim Gardner
> > > Subject: RE: USB port on Cougar - can I get a Hail-Yeah?
> > >=20
> > > Andy,
> > >=20
> > > I don't know whether this will be hard or not, but it=20
> sounds like a=20
> > > great idea to me if Brian can make it come true. USB is a hugely=20
> > > powerful interface, and we can do all sorts of creative=20
> things with=20
> > > it.
> > >=20
> > > jay
> > >=20
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Andrew Sharp [mailto:andy.sharp@onstor.com]
> > > Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 8:07 PM
> > > To: Brian Stark
> > > Cc: Tim Gardner; Jay Michlin
> > > Subject: USB port on Cougar - can I get a Hail-Yeah?
> > >=20
> > > Hi Brian,
> > >=20
> > > So here I go asking (I'm still inside my honeymoon=20
> period) for a USB=20
> > > port. Does the south bridge (waaay south?) chip support USB?  Or=20
> > > perhaps there is a bit of space on one corner of the=20
> board where a=20
> > > USB host adapter can be put on the PCIe.
> > >=20
> > > One really excellent use for a USB port is utilizing=20
> transportable=20
> > > storage for baseline copy of mirrors.  Export the volume onto a=20
> > > 750GB external USB drive, hand it to FedEx, and import it on the=20
> > > other end, shazaam. Much easier than doing the similar=20
> thing with an=20
> > > array.  Of course if it's a 20TB dataset you'd have to do that 26=20
> > > times ....
> > >=20
> > > I don't recall mention of a USB port in the docs so far. =20
> Dev could=20
> > > make excellent use of such a beast as well for many=20
> things.  Rescue=20
> > > boot from an iPod?
> > >=20
> > > Cheers,
> > >=20
> > > a
> > >=20
>=20
