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> many systems produced by Apple have had this kind of "FireWire target disk mode" for a while now. Since 2000.

• _delirium 14y ago
  It looks like this will include support for USB disks, though, which Apple doesn't yet support in TDM.
• seclorum 14y ago
  .. but unlike Linux, the Apple Firewire Target mode can't be used while Mac OSX is running on the machine. In Apples' case, its implemented in EFI - whereas with Linux, it will be possible to use the 'target mode' while the machine is still running.
  • wmf 14y ago
    One complication in that scenario is that you can't mount a (normal) filesystem while exposing it over SCSI target (because then it would be mounted twice).
    • sp332 14y ago
      Actually you can't mount anything from the target drive, because the whole drive is exposed over the network as a SCSI device.
      • seclorum 14y ago
        The point is I can now very easily build a Linux-based RAID stack that works with my Macs over Firewire: Kernel-Firewire-Target:0:1->/home/disks/image00.dd & image01.dd &image02.dd &etc. Build a big Linux box with much SSD and other slower disks, wire up a light Mac farm to it with Firewire, point each node to a relevant loop file on some path, and managed storage networks are a cinch.
        • wmf 14y ago
          That would have been awesome years ago; now I'd just use gigabit iSCSI. Thunderbolt target mode OTOH...