scope:

A standard application programming interface (API) defines a scope within which, and a grammar by which it is possible to write application software without attention to vendor-specific infrastructure behavior. SM-HBA specifies a standard API the scope of which is management of FC and SAS HBAs, and the use of FC and SAS capabilities for discovery and management of the components of the respective fabric or domain. This proposed standard defines interfaces to the following capabilities: a) Monitoring and Control of Attributes and Capabilities of HBAs and End Ports. b) Monitoring of HBA, End port, and Storage access traffic statistics. c) Timely and selective reporting of HBA and fabric or domain configuration, status, and statistical events. d) Access to Fibre Channel Fabric Services (see FC-GS-5). e) Access to the Fibre Channel Extended Link Services necessary to comply with the manageability profile for HBAs recommended in FC-DA. f) Access to SAS Management Protocol (SMP) Services for Expander Management (see SAS-2). g) Discovery and Enumeration of FCP-3, SSP and STP storage resources. The above capabilities are realized through the following architectural goals: a) Generalization of the structures defined in FC-HBA to support multiple SCSI transport protocols. b) Interface for administration of SAS HBAs that is as consistent as practical with the interfaces defined in FC-HBA for Fiber Channel HBAs. This standard is to be used in conjunction with the Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI and SCSI families of standards. At the time this standard was written its relationship to those standards was as shown in figure 1.