Skip to main content

T11 Network Address Authority (NAA) Naming Format for iSCSI Node Names
RFC 3980

Document Type RFC - Proposed Standard (February 2005)
Obsoleted by RFC 7143
Updates RFC 3720
Authors Marjorie Krueger , Robert Elliott , Mallikarjun Chadalapaka
Last updated 2015-10-14
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Formats
Additional resources Mailing list discussion
IESG Responsible AD Allison J. Mankin
Send notices to (None)
RFC 3980
Network Working Group                                         M. Krueger
Request for Comments: 3980                                M. Chadalapaka
Updates: 3720                                                 R. Elliott
Category: Standards Track                          Hewlett-Packard Corp.
                                                           February 2005

           T11 Network Address Authority (NAA) Naming Format
                          for iSCSI Node Names

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).

Abstract

   Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) is a SCSI transport
   protocol that maps the SCSI family of protocols onto TCP/IP.  This
   document defines an additional iSCSI node name type format to enable
   use of the "Network Address Authority" (NAA) worldwide naming format
   defined by the InterNational Committee for Information Technology
   Standards (INCITS) T11 - Fibre Channel (FC) protocols and used by
   Serial Attached SCSI (SAS).  This document updates RFC 3720.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   2.  Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   3.  Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   4.  iSCSI NAA Name Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
       4.1.  Type "naa." - Network Address Authority. . . . . . . . .  3
   5.  Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
       5.1.  IQN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
       5.2.  SRP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
       5.3.  SAS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
       5.4.  NAA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       5.5.  InfiniBand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       5.6.  INCITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       5.7.  T10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       5.8.  T11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5

Krueger, et al.             Standards Track                     [Page 1]
RFC 3980                iSCSI NAA Naming Format            February 2005

   6.  Security Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   7.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
       7.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
       7.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8

1.  Introduction

   This document discusses the motivation for adding an NAA type format
   as an iSCSI node naming format and defines this format in accordance
   with the iSCSI naming conventions [RFC3720].  Defining this format
   will enable SCSI storage devices containing both iSCSI ports and SAS
   ports to use the same NAA-based SCSI device name.

2.  Background

   A number of networked transports currently provide port abstractions
   to the SCSI protocol.  These transports all incorporate some form of
   world-wide unique name construction format.  The following table
   summarizes the current protocols and their naming formats.

          SCSI Transport Protocol     Naming Format
       -----------------------------------------------
      |                            | EUI-64| NAA |IQN |
      |----------------------------|-------|-----|----|
      |    iSCSI (Internet SCSI)   |   X   |     | X  |
      |----------------------------|-------|-----|----|
      |     FCP (Fibre Channel)    |       |  X  |    |
      |----------------------------|-------|-----|----|
      | SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) |       |  X  |    |
      |----------------------------|-------|-----|----|
      |    SRP (for InfiniBand)    |   X   |     |    |
       -----------------------------------------------

   The INCITS T11 Framing and Signaling Specification [FC-FS] defines a
   format called the Network Address Authority (NAA) format for
   constructing worldwide unique identifiers that use various identifier
   registration authorities.  This identifier format is used by the
   Fibre Channel and SAS SCSI transport protocols.  As most existing
   networked SCSI ports today are either FC or SAS, the NAA format is
   the most commonly used identifier format for SCSI transports.

Krueger, et al.             Standards Track                     [Page 2]
RFC 3980                iSCSI NAA Naming Format            February 2005

3.  Motivation

   If iSCSI included a naming format that allowed direct representation
   of an NAA-format name, it would facilitate construction of a target
   device name that translates easily across multiple namespaces for a
   SCSI storage device containing ports served by different transports.

   This document defines an NAA type iSCSI naming format so that one NAA
   identifier can be assigned as the basis for the SCSI device name for
   a SCSI target with both SAS ports and iSCSI ports.

   INCITS T10 SCSI has defined a string format SCSI target device name
   in [SPC3] that is reported in the VPD page 83 device identifier page.
   [SAM3] specifies that a SCSI device shall have no more than one
   (i.e., zero or one) SCSI device name in the SCSI name string format
   regardless of the number of SCSI transport protocols supported by the
   SCSI device.  Adding the INCITS T11-defined NAA format as a defined
   type for iSCSI device names would make the iSCSI device naming format
   more consistent across all current SCSI networked transports that
   define an NAA format SCSI device name.  This would facilitate the
   creation of SCSI device names that are transport-independent.  It
   would also contribute to the creation of SCSI Logical Unit (LU) names
   based on this SCSI device name.

4.  iSCSI NAA Name Structure

   This document defines an additional iSCSI name type:

   type "naa." - the remainder of the string is an INCITS T11 defined
                 Network Address Authority identifier in ASCII-encoded
                 hexadecimal.

4.1.  Type "naa." - Network Address Authority

   [FC-FS] defines a format for constructing globally unique
   identifiers, referred to as the Network Address Authority (NAA)
   format.

   The iSCSI NAA naming format is "naa.", followed by an NAA identifier
   represented in ASCII-encoded hexadecimal digits.

Krueger, et al.             Standards Track                     [Page 3]
RFC 3980                iSCSI NAA Naming Format            February 2005

   An example of an iSCSI name with a 64-bit NAA value follows:

         Type  NAA identifier (ASCII-encoded hexadecimal)
         +--++--------------+
         |  ||              |

         naa.52004567BA64678D

      An example of an iSCSI name with a 128-bit NAA value follows:

         Type  NAA identifier (ASCII-encoded hexadecimal)
         +--++------------------------------+
         |  ||                              |

         naa.62004567BA64678D0123456789ABCDEF

   The iSCSI NAA naming format might be used in an implementation when
   the infrastructure for generating NAA worldwide unique names is
   already in place because the device contains both SAS and iSCSI SCSI
   ports.

   The NAA identifier formatted in an ASCII-hexadecimal representation
   has a maximum size of 32 characters (128 bit NAA format).  As a
   result, there is no issue with this naming format exceeding the
   maximum size for iSCSI node names.

5.  Terminology

5.1.  IQN

   iSCSI qualified name, an identifier format defined by the iSCSI
   protocol [RFC3720].

5.2.  SRP

   SCSI RDMA Protocol.  SRP defines a SCSI protocol mapping onto the
   InfiniBand (tm) Architecture and/or functionally similar cluster
   protocols [SRP].

5.3.  SAS

   Serial Attached SCSI.  The Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) standard
   contains both a physical layer compatible with Serial ATA, and
   protocols for transporting SCSI commands to SAS devices and ATA
   commands to SATA devices [SAS].

Krueger, et al.             Standards Track                     [Page 4]
RFC 3980                iSCSI NAA Naming Format            February 2005

5.4.  NAA

   Network Address Authority, a naming format defined by the INCITS T11
   Fibre Channel protocols [FC-FS].

5.5.  InfiniBand

   An I/O architecture originally intended to replace PCI and to address
   high performance server interconnectivity [IB].

5.6.  INCITS

   INCITS stands for InterNational Committee of Information Technology
   Standards.  The INCITS has a broad standardization scope within the
   field of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT),
   encompassing storage, processing, transfer, display, management,
   organization, and retrieval of information.  INCITS serves as ANSI's
   Technical Advisory Group for the ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1
   (JTC 1).  See http://www.incits.org.

5.7.  T10

   A technical committee within INCITS that develops standards and
   technical reports on I/O interfaces, particularly the series of SCSI
   (Small Computer Systems Interface) standards.  See
   http://www.t10.org.

5.8.  T11

   A technical committee within INCITS responsible for standards
   development in the areas of Intelligent Peripheral Interface (IPI),
   High-Performance Parallel Interface (HIPPI) and Fibre Channel (FC).
   See http://www.t11.org.

6.  Security Considerations

   This iSCSI naming format does not introduce any new security concerns
   for the iSCSI protocol beyond those of the other iSCSI naming
   formats.  Please refer to [RFC3720], Section 8, for information on
   the security considerations for the iSCSI protocol.

Krueger, et al.             Standards Track                     [Page 5]
RFC 3980                iSCSI NAA Naming Format            February 2005

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

   [RFC3720]  Satran, J., Meth, K., Sapuntzakis, C., Chadalapaka, M.,
              and E. Zeidner, "Internet Small Computer Systems Interface
              (iSCSI)", RFC 3720, April 2004.

   [FC-FS]    INCITS 373-2003, Fibre Channel Framing and Signaling
              Interface (FC-FS).

7.2.  Informative References

   [SPC3]     T10/1416-D, SCSI Primary Commands - 3 (SPC-3).

   [SAM3]     T10/1561-D, SCSI Architecture Model - 3 (SAM-3).

   [IB]       InfiniBand{tm} Architecture Specification, Vol. 1, Rel.
              1.0.a, InfiniBand Trade Association
              (http://www.infinibandta.org).

   [SRP]      INCITS 365-2002, SCSI RDMA Protocol (SRP).

   [SAS]      INCITS 376-2003, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS).

Krueger, et al.             Standards Track                     [Page 6]
RFC 3980                iSCSI NAA Naming Format            February 2005

Authors' Addresses

   Marjorie Krueger
   Hewlett-Packard Company
   8000 Foothills Blvd.
   Roseville, CA 95747-5668, USA

   EMail: marjorie_krueger@hp.com

   Mallikarjun Chadalapaka
   Hewlett-Packard Company
   8000 Foothills Blvd.
   Roseville, CA 95747-5668, USA

   EMail: cbm@rose.hp.com

   Rob Elliott
   Hewlett-Packard Company
   MC 140801
   PO Box 692000
   Houston, TX 77269-2000, USA

   EMail: elliott@hp.com

Krueger, et al.             Standards Track                     [Page 7]
RFC 3980                iSCSI NAA Naming Format            February 2005

Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).

   This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
   contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
   retain all their rights.

   This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
   OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
   ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
   INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
   INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Intellectual Property

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
   might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
   made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
   on the IETF's procedures with respect to rights in IETF Documents can
   be found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
   assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
   such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
   http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-
   ipr@ietf.org.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.

Krueger, et al.             Standards Track                     [Page 8]