SRP (SCSI RDMA Protocol) initiator over InfiniBand
Initiator support for SRP, a protocol that lets a Linux host access remote SCSI block storage across an InfiniBand or RoCE fabric using RDMA. It is used with high-end RDMA network adapters (today typically NVIDIA/Mellanox ConnectX and BlueField cards) in enterprise and HPC storage deployments where low-latency, high-throughput SAN access is required.
recommendation
Worth keeping but documenting its niche: SRP is a specialized enterprise and HPC storage protocol with a relatively small user base, but the underlying RDMA hardware is still sold new and the code is actively maintained, with targeted fixes landing upstream in 2025 and at least one fix backported to a stable kernel that February. NVIDIA's current DOCA and OFED documentation still walks customers through setting up SRP initiators, and there is no equivalent in-tree replacement for sites tied to the existing SRP target ecosystem, so removing it would strand real deployments.
repository signals
sources
- lore.kernel.org
Upstream still takes targeted ib_srp fixes in 2025; this patch adjusts driver behavior rather than staging removal.
- lore.kernel.org
An ib_srp fix was backported to stable in February 2025, indicating continued production relevance.
- docs.nvidia.com
NVIDIA's 2026 DOCA/OFED documentation still documents SRP initiator setup, sysfs, discovery tools, and HA workflows for ib_srp deployments.
- docs.nvidia.com
Current NVIDIA OFED documentation lists modern ConnectX/BlueField adapter families with InfiniBand/RDMA support, showing the underlying HCA class is still sold new.
- docs.kernel.org
Kernel documentation still carries stable userspace ABI entries for /sys/class/infiniband_srp and the ib_srp driver interface.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Real driver: local shell read of Kconfig says 'InfiniBand SCSI RDMA Protocol' and accesses remote SRP storage over InfiniBand. Lore evidence came from lore_file_timeline on drivers/infiniband/ulp/srp/ib_srp.c: recent 2025-2026 fixes and API updates, plus a 2025 stable backport, with no removal signal in the sampled activity. Deployment looks niche rather than dead: web search found current NVIDIA DOCA/OFED SRP deployment docs and current OFED adapter-family docs for still-sold ConnectX/BlueField RDMA hardware. I used the kernel ABI doc from web search as additional evidence that ib_srp still exposes maintained user-visible interfaces. Conclusion: keep in-tree, but annotate as a low-volume, specialized enterprise/HPC storage protocol with no obvious in-tree replacement for the same SRP target ecosystem.