The xiRAID storage engine is implemented as a single binary that runs as a
service. This engine exposes a gRPC management API. An additional binary
implements a CLI to represent the gRPC API as a management command-line
interface. The CLI engine is a thin client that does not contain any logic.
Therefore, another client (such as a GUI, customer CLI, or plugin) can connect
directly to the gRPC API. The gRPC syntax is described in the gRPC API
specification. Any engine command available in the CLI tool can be executed by a
direct gRPC call.
The CLI uses the network layer to send commands to and receive responses from the
data path engine via gRPC. This means that the CLI and xiRAID engine can operate
on different network nodes, and the same CLI can manage multiple engines across
various network nodes. To specify the destination engine for a command, the CLI
tool needs to be provided with the network address (hostname/IP and port
number). By default, if the engine and CLI are installed on the same node, the
localhost and pre-configured port number are used.Figure 1. Figure 1: Major parts of the xiRAID
