[Hwcert-announce-list] Clarification of Red Hat Hardware Certification iSCSI testing policy

[Engineering Partner Management]

Greetings Red Hat Partners,

We are providing an expanded announcement for the earlier "Red Hat 
Hardware Certification Policy Guide and User Guide Updated" announcement 
sent on January 17, 2014, regarding the iSCSI policy changes. This 
expansion is to clarify the situations that will and will not require 
additional testing in leveraging situations.

The iSCSI policy change was described as:

* iSCSI policy updated to allow for either hardware or software initiator.

This change allows for a simpler handling of all iSCSI capable hardware. 
Going forward, Red Hat will no longer attempt to determine if the iSCSI 
feature support is provided by firmware, hardware, software, or any 
combination thereof.

Previously, testing requirements for iSCSI devices were determined on a 
case-by-case basis during the review of each individual certification 
submission. This often added inconsistency and unnecessary delay to the 
certification process. This policy update treats all implementations of 
iSCSI as functionally equivalent. This change allows us to apply a 
single and consistent approach to all iSCSI devices regardless of the 
manner in which they provide the advertised functionality.

This change, however, has the potential to create confusion when 
leveraging a device that was certified under the previous policy. In an 
effort to minimize this confusion, we have outlined the following 
possible combinations to help our partners understand when additional 
testing will and will not be required.

The following situations do require additional iSCSI storage testing on 
previously certified iSCSI capable hardware for leverage purposes:

- When the original certification result referenced was on hardware 
without a claim of iSCSI support and the leveraging hardware is with a 
claim of iSCSI support.

- When the original certification result referenced was on hardware with 
a claim of iSCSI support but iSCSI results were not previously requested 
and the leveraging hardware is with a claim of iSCSI support.


The following situations do not require additional iSCSI storage testing 
on previously certified iSCSI capable hardware for leveraging purposes:

- When the original certification result referenced was on hardware 
without a claim of iSCSI support and the leveraging hardware is without 
a claim of iSCSI support.

- When the original certification result referenced was on hardware with 
a claim of iSCSI support but iSCSI results were not previously requested 
and the leveraging hardware is without a claim of iSCSI support.

- When the original certification result referenced was on hardware with 
a claim of iSCSI support and iSCSI results were previously provided and 
the leveraging hardware is with a claim of iSCSI support.

- When the original certification result referenced was on hardware with 
a claim of iSCSI support and iSCSI results were previously provided and 
the leveraging hardware is without a claim of iSCSI support.


We greatly value your ongoing participation in the Red Hat Enterprise 
Linux Hardware Certification efforts. Thank you for your continued 
partnership. If you have any questions or comments, please do not 
hesitate to contact your Partner Manager or Technical Account Manager.

Regards,

The Red Hat Hardware Certification Team