User manual

SANtools® S.M.A.R.T. Disk Monitor (SMARTMon-UX)232
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in Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters (HBA). Developed through the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA),
the HBA API has been overwhelmingly adopted by Storage Area Network vendors to help manage, monitor, and
deploy storage area networks in an interoperable way.
The HBA API is implemented as a set of 'C' level API's which allow access to low level, Fibre Channel HBA
information in a platform- and vendor- independent way. The API depends on vendor supplied, vendor specific code
for the vendor's HBAs. The API does not support any vendor's HBA without a vendor specific library.
3.2. What is the history of the HBA API?
The HBA API effort began in March of 2000 in the SNIA Fibre Channel working group. In May of 2000, the HBA API
subgroup was formed. In July of 2000 the 1.0 feature set was frozen and the initial draft submitted to the T11 FC-MI
standards group. Version 1.0 was approved by the SNIA Fibre Channel working group in September of 2000 and is
currently undergoing review as part of the T11 FC-MI Letter Ballot process. Version 2.0 efforts have been ongoing
since December of 2000, with version 2.0 expected by Q2 2002.
3.3. How real is this standard? Specifically, when can I see this working?
The HBA API is in deployment today and was first demonstrated at the Fall 2000 Storage Networking World in
Orlando. (Most, if not all FC HBAs now support the API, but not for all operating systems).
3.4. Is the HBA API an in-band or out-of-band mechanism?
The HBA API is neither. Information from the HBA API can be usually found through an out-of-band mechanism
for management, however can also be accessed in-band through a IP over Fibre Channel connection.
3.5. Does the HBA API support SCSI adapters?
No, the HBA API is limited to supporting Fibre Channel HBAs.
3.6. Does the HBA API support iSCSI adapters?
Not yet, however there has been discussion on adding iSCSI support in the future. There is a separate working group
(IPS TWG) within SNIA working on an API for iSCSI.
3.7. How secure is the HBA API? Can a rogue program disrupt my SAN through the HBA API?
There are no calls in the current HBA API which are able to read or write data from storage or otherwise affect SAN
operation. All current SCSI calls in the HBA API are informational (read-only) calls. However, the CT pass through
command does allow read and write of information from a switch, if allowed.
4. Installation and Usage
The HBA API is implemented as a common library which depends on vendor-specific libraries for specific HBA model
support.
4.1. What files are installed to use the HBA API?
The HBA API consists of three major parts (vendor library, common library, and registration) that are installed on a
system to operate.
· On Windows systems:
· HBAAPI.DLL is the common library, installed in %SYSTEMROOT%/SYSTEM32.
· The vendor install software will write a registry entry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\SNIA with the
location of the vendor-specific library.
· Vendors will install a vendor library, typically in the same location the vendor stores their driver software.
· On Unix systems:
· libHBAAPI.so is the common library, installed in /usr/lib for 32-bit systems, and the appropriate 64-bit library
locations depending on operating system.
· The vendor install software will write a line to /etc/hba.conf with the location of their vendor-specific library.
· Vendors will install a vendor library, typically in the same location the vendor stores their driver software.
4.2. Where does the HBA API common library get installed?
· On Windows systems:
· HBAAPI.DLL is the common library, installed in %SYSTEMROOT%/SYSTEM32.