Method and apparatus for providing iSCSI target stealth operation

1. A method for managing discovery and ancillary protocols which lead to denial of service attacks, comprising:

maintaining iSCSI standard support for all discovery sessions on all network portals, including returning a list of all targets on the network entity and all of the portal groups associated with each target;

providing send target discovery sessions as default behavior;

prohibiting send target discovery sessions as a system administrator option;

configuring discovery via supporting protocols external to the iSCSI protocol;

receiving an iSCSI login request;

determining whether a payload of said iSCSI login request contains a “SessionType=Discovery” key/value pair; and

when discovery sessions are disabled and said iSCSI login request contains said “SessionType=Discovery” key/value pair, rejecting said iSCSI login request.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said iSCSI login request is rejected with a iSCSI status-class of “Target Error” and status-detail of “Session Type not Supported.”

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

declaring a session type on said iSCSI login request.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

when a session type is not explicitly declared on said iSCSI login request, assuming a session type is not a discovery session and specifying a specific target.

5. An apparatus for managing discovery and ancillary protocols which lead to denial of service attacks, comprising:

maintaining iSCSI standard support for all discovery sessions on all network portals, including returning a list of all targets on the network entity and all of the portal groups associated with each target;

providing send target discovery sessions as default behavior;

prohibiting send target discovery sessions as a system administrator option;

configuring discovery via supporting protocols external to the iSCSI protocol;

means for receiving an iSCSI login request;

means for determining whether a payload of said iSCSI login request contains a “SessionType=Discovery” key/value pair; and

when discovery sessions are disabled and said iSCSI login request contains said “SessionType=Discovery” key/value pair, means for rejecting said iSCSI login request.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein said means for rejecting said iSCSI login request comprising means for rejecting said iSCSI login request with a iSCSI status-class of “Target Error” and status-detail of “Session Type not Supported.”

7. The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising means for declaring a session type on said iSCSI login request.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising:

when a session type is not explicitly declared on said iSCSI login request, means for assuming a session type is not a discovery session and means for specifying a specific target.

9. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method for managing discovery and ancillary protocols, said method comprising:

maintaining iSCSI standard support for all discovery sessions on all network portals, including returning a list of all targets on the network entity and all of the portal groups associated with each target;

providing send target discovery sessions as default behavior;

prohibiting send target discovery sessions as a system administrator option;

configuring discovery via supporting protocols external to the iSCSI protocol;

receiving an iSCSI login request;

determining whether a payload of said iSCSI login request contains a “SessionType=Discovery” key/value pair; and

when discovery sessions are disabled and said iSCSI login request contains said “SessionType=Discovery” key/value pair, rejecting said iSCSI login request.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein said iSCSI login request is rejected with a iSCSI status-class of “Target Error” and status-detail of “Session Type not Supported.”

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein said method further comprising:

declaring a session type on said iSCSI login request.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein said method further comprising:

when a session type is not explicitly declared on said iSCSI login request, assuming a session type is not a discovery session and specifying a specific target.

13. A method for providing iSCSI target stealth operation, comprising:

maintaining iSCSI standard support for all discovery sessions on all network portals, including returning a list of all targets on the network entity and all of the portal groups associated with each target;

providing send target discovery sessions as default behavior;

prohibiting send target discovery sessions as a system administrator option;

configuring discovery via supporting protocols external to the iSCSI protocol;

providing a setting to individually enable/disable at least one of discovery sessions, SLP, iSNS, ICMP, and SNMP; and

when said discovery session, said SLP, and said iSNS are all disabled, providing a warning that an initiator must be statically configured to locate a target on an iSCSI entity.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said enable/disable is distributed throughout a management application.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein said warning is provided to an administrator.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

when all discovery mechanisms are disabled, providing said warning to a user.

17. An apparatus for providing iSCSI target stealth operation, comprising:

maintaining iSCSI standard support for all discovery sessions on all network portals, including returning a list of all targets on the network entity and all of the portal groups associated with each target;

providing send target discovery sessions as default behavior;

prohibiting send target discovery sessions as a system administrator option;

configuring discovery via supporting protocols external to the iSCSI protocol;

means for providing a setting to individually enable/disable at least one of discovery sessions, SLP, iSNS, ICMP, and SNMP; and

when said discovery session, said SLP, and said iSNS are all disabled, means for providing a warning that an initiator must be statically configured to locate a target on an iSCSI entity.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein said enable/disable is distributed throughout a management application.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein said warning is provided to an administrator.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 , further comprising:

when all discovery mechanisms are disabled, means for providing said warning to a user.

21. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method for providing iSCSI target stealth operation, said method comprising:

maintaining iSCSI standard support for all discovery sessions on all network portals, including returning a list of all targets on the network entity and all of the portal groups associated with each target;

providing send target discovery sessions as default behavior;

prohibiting send target discovery sessions as a system administrator option;

configuring discovery via supporting protocols external to the iSCSI protocol;

providing a setting to individually enable/disable at least one of discovery sessions, SLP, iSNS, ICMP, and SNMP; and

when said discovery session, said SLP, and said iSNS are all disabled, providing a warning that an initiator must be statically configured to locate a target on an iSCSI entity.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein said enable/disable is distributed throughout a management application.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein said warning is provided to an administrator.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein said method further comprising:

when all discovery mechanisms are disabled, providing said warning to a user.