Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S932996AbXJMTJz (ORCPT ); Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:09:55 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1761841AbXJMTJn (ORCPT ); Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:09:43 -0400 Received: from static-71-162-243-5.phlapa.fios.verizon.net ([71.162.243.5]:35594 "EHLO grelber.thyrsus.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1756966AbXJMTJm (ORCPT ); Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:09:42 -0400 From: Rob Landley Organization: Boundaries Unlimited To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: What still uses the block layer? Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2007 20:11:21 -0500 User-Agent: KMail/1.9.6 Cc: linux-scsi@vger.kernel.org, Jens Axboe , Suparna Bhattacharya , Nick Piggin MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Message-Id: <200710112011.22000.rob@landley.net> Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1689 Lines: 35 My impression from asking questions on the linux-scsi mailing list is that the scsi upper/middle/lower layers doesn't use the block layer described in Documentation/block/*. For example, the scsi guys say: http://marc.info/?l=linux-scsi&m=118633268527856&w=2 Instead of using the block layer, SCSI reinvents this particular wheel itself. There's a scsi "upper layer" that provides /dev nodes, scsi low-level drivers, and a gigantic glue layer in between call the "scsi midlayer" that's something like a networking stack, and is responsible for losing track of all your devices so that the one SATA disk hardwired into your laptop might be sda or sdc depending on whether or not you had a USB key plugged in when you booted up. Anyway, the block layer isn't between any of these three, that I can tell. Now that IDE disks have been rerouted through the scsi layer, SATA goes through the scsi layer, USB goes through the scsi layer, firewire goes through the scsi layer... What's left? It seems like everything but ramdisks have now been routed through the scsi layer. My laptop hasn't got a single SCSI device but it also hasn't got any block devices that don't show up as scsi. So what's still using the block layer? How do the scsi layers and the block layer relate? I'm confused! (This is normal for me, but still...) Rob -- "One of my most productive days was throwing away 1000 lines of code." - Ken Thompson. - 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/