AF:
NF:0
PS:10
SRH:1
SFN:
DSR:
MID:<20070504155437.2ed41ae1@ripper.onstor.net>
CFG:
PT:0
S:andy.sharp@onstor.com
RQ:
SSV:onstor-exch02.onstor.net
NSV:
SSH:
R:<charissa.willard@onstor.com>,<dl-designreview@onstor.com>,<eric.crutchlow@onstor.com>,<bill.duffy@onstor.com>
MAID:1
X-Sylpheed-Privacy-System:
X-Sylpheed-Sign:0
SCF:#mh/Mailbox/sent
RMID:#mh/Mailbox/design review	0	BB375AF679D4A34E9CA8DFA650E2B04E0399431F@onstor-exch02.onstor.net
X-Sylpheed-End-Special-Headers: 1
Date: Fri, 4 May 2007 15:55:30 -0700
From: Andrew Sharp <andy.sharp@onstor.com>
To: "Charissa Willard" <charissa.willard@onstor.com>
Cc: "dl-Design Review" <dl-designreview@onstor.com>, "Eric Crutchlow"
 <eric.crutchlow@onstor.com>, "Bill Duffy" <bill.duffy@onstor.com>
Subject: Re: [Zonda] Network initial config via WebUI -- system component
Message-ID: <20070504155530.537a5ef5@ripper.onstor.net>
In-Reply-To: <BB375AF679D4A34E9CA8DFA650E2B04E0399431F@onstor-exch02.onstor.net>
References: <20070424154813.653bd7a6@ripper.onstor.net>
	<BB375AF679D4A34E9CA8DFA650E2B04E03797464@onstor-exch02.onstor.net>
	<BB375AF679D4A34E9CA8DFA650E2B04E0399431F@onstor-exch02.onstor.net>
Organization: Onstor
X-Mailer: Sylpheed-Claws 2.6.0 (GTK+ 2.8.20; x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Not sure why you left off my original idea from the list.  Certainly it
should be listed before #2.  IMHO.  I'll include it again here.  Keep
in mind that my idea, a static IP address, and a "static DHCP" address
can all coexist happily.

a



                 First Install/Config Design Specification
                 =========================================

Problem
-------

Doing initial install configurations is physically awkward and
inconvenient due to the serial port requirement.  Most laptops built
in the last several years have no serial port.

Furthermore, the text-based config system is aesthetically unappealing
compared to our competitors, and also clumsy and slow.

Overall ease-of-use rating is very low.

Custmer impression: this thing is not slick.  These folks are not
brilliant.

Solution
--------

Network based install with Web UI configuration.

Scope
-----

Web UI based install configurator already on the schedule for 3.1
(Zonda)

Network component scope: minimal (1 week) Zonda deliverable

Design
------

The network method has been thought to be solved by having the
filer boot up with a default static IP address, and require the user to
configure their laptop to conform with that.  The user would have to
configure the laptop by hand to set the IP address, the netmask, the
DNS server, etc.

That design is deficient in 2 ease-of-use categories: it requires the
user successfully configure the laptop with a fixed IP address,
which is possibly beyond the capabilities of all potential customers;
and it's difficult to diagnose what is wrong if the user has configured
the laptop incorrectly.

Instead, the filer will boot up in initial install mode with a DHCP
server listening on a management port.  The user plugs the laptop
ethernet into the management interface of the filer, boots the laptop,
and fires up the web browser to http://onstor/ and Eureka!, there is
the Web UI ready to start the initial config.

The way this all works is that the DHCP server on the filer assigns the
laptop an IP address, and of course the filer already has an IP address.
The filer also serves the DNS request for 'onstor' to the laptop so the
browser connects appropriately.

Virtually all laptops are configured to get their IP address from DHCP
already, so this should work with any laptop, so long as it has an
ethernet port, which is already required.

During the config process, the user will set the IP address for the
management interfaces as per usual.  At the end of the config process,
the DHCP server is disabled, the filer is rebooted, the laptop
disconnected, and the filer connected to the switch or hub as per
normal.  Finito.

As a backup safety net, the static laptop IP config method would still
work.



On Fri, 4 May 2007 15:37:15 -0700 "Charissa Willard"
<charissa.willard@onstor.com> wrote:

> 1.) I discussed the initial configuration wizard with the SEs a few
> months ago. Both Eric Crutchlow and Bill Duffy thought that using a
> static IP address would be okay for now. However, the issue still
> remains as to selecting an IP address that has a high probability of
> being unique. Also, is there an issue with just going with a class C
> private address? These are the available private IP addresses for each
> class:
> 
>  
> 
>      Class A: 10.0.0.0    - 10.255.255.255  (10/8 prefix) 
> 
>      Class B: 172.16.0.0  - 172.31.255.255  (172.16/12 prefix)
> 
>      Class C: 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> 2.) We could also configure a static DHCP IP address like NetApp does.
> Below are the instructions NetApp uses to set up a static DHCP IP
> address.
> 
>  
> 
>    The NetApp QuickSetup wizard, version 1.01, has the following
> system requirements:
> 
>  
> 
> * A NetApp filer with Data ONTAP 6.1 software or later attached to a
> network with a DHCP server 
> 
> * The CIFS license installed on the filer 
> 
> * A Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 workstation within the same domain
> or workgroup as the new filer that has access to any remote subnet
> that contains the filer 
> 
>  
> 
>     Configure the following information into your DHCP server:
> 
>  
> 
> * Filer MAC address 
> 
> * Filer IP address with an infinite lease 
> 
> * Any of the following optional information: 
> 
> O Routers 
> 
> O Default route 
> 
> O DNS domain name 
> 
> O DNS servers 
> 
> O NIS domain name 
> 
> O NIS servers 
> 
> O WINS servers 
> 
> O SMTP server 
> 
>  
> 
> 3.) Lastly, there is still the possibility of using one of Zero
> Configuration (ZeroConf) technologies. There is no need to configure
> anything for this, hence the name - Zero Configuration). A browser
> plug-in is required though. Note that ZeroConf is Apple's version of
> Microsoft's UPnP. The link-local (LL) addressing feature uses
> addresses in the 169.254.0.0/16 range. Microsoft refers to this as
> "Automatic Private IP Addressing". This technology is defined in RFC
> 3927 (for IPv4).
> 
>  
> 
> Bonjour is Apple's implementation of ZeroConf. Avahi is the ZeroConf
> implementation for Linux and BSD. Avahi contains an implementation of
> IPv4LL in the avahi-autoipd tool
> (http://avahi.org/download/avahi-autoipd.8.xml). This tool can be used
> stand-alone or as a plug-in for a DHCP client.
> 
>  
> 
> -Charissa
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jonathan Goldick 
> Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 1:37 PM
> To: Andy Sharp; dl-designreview
> Subject: RE: [Zonda] Network initial config via WebUI -- system
> component
> 
>  
> 
> In your backup method with a static IP, what number do we choose?  We
> discussed this years back and could never come up with one that was
> known to be safe.  We even went as far as talking about having a small
> input device to key in the static IP address (not a popular idea).  
> 
>  
> 
> In general I like the new idea, we should vet some of the assumptions
> with customers, like our newly formed customer advisory board, to see
> if this is what they want.  Just thinking of possible issues relating
> to plugging a laptop directly into the 10x100 BaseT.  Do we supply the
> cables?  Must they have one of their own?
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> 
> From: Andy Sharp 
> 
> Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 3:48 PM
> 
> To: dl-designreview
> 
> Subject: [Zonda] Network initial config via WebUI -- system component
> 
>  
> 
> I've heard that we are going to try and have a WebUI initial (install)
> 
> config thing for Zonda release, so I thought I would write up how I
> 
> think we should make the system level network part of that equation
> 
> happen.  This what I planned to do for Linux regardless of how the
> 
> config was done, rather than use a serial port.
> 
>  
> 
> I'm asking for RFC at this time.  If there are no objections or
> 
> questions, I'll schedule a meeting if people think it's necessary.
> 
>  
> 
> Cheers,
> 
>  
> 
> a
> 
