The EtherDrive blade runs a nanoserver built specifically for serving requests from an Ethernet network to its attached ATA drive. Each blade fits into one of the ten slots in an EtherDrive shelf, where it obtains its access to power and a network port. The shelf possesses a dip switch for setting a shelf address. The shelf provides this address, in addition to the slot number, to each EtherDrive blade.
The EtherDrive blade accepts Ethernet frames with type 0x88a2, the IANA registered Ethernet type for ATA over Ethernet (AoE). AoE is a simple protocol used to package ATA commands and responses for transmission over Ethernet. AoE also provides hosts with a method for obtaining information about the EtherDrive blade.
Using EtherDrive blades from any host system is as simple as sending and receiving AoE Ethernet frames.