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+..
+ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
+ License.
+
+ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode
+
+===============================================
+Configurable introspection data storage backend
+===============================================
+
+https://storyboard.openstack.org/#!/story/1726713
+
+This spec proposes a mechanism to read and write introspection data from
+configured storage backend, and additionally provides support to read and
+write introspection data in ironic inspector database.
+
+Problem description
+===================
+
+Currently, introspection data can only be stored in Swift, there are no
+alternatives in an environment where Swift is not adopted. Also there is lack
+of mechanisms to support other storage backends by extending ironic-inspector
+with extensions.
+
+Proposed change
+===============
+
+* Adds a table named ``introspection_data`` to store introspection data.
+
+* Adds an inspector plugin named ``introspection_data`` which supports three
+  types of storage backend: ``none``, ``swift``, and ``database``.
+
+  Each type of storage backend exposes two interfaces::
+
+    def get(self, node_id, suffix=None):
+        pass
+
+    def save(self, node_info, data, suffix=None):
+        pass
+
+* Adds a plugin manager to dynamically load driver extensions according to
+  the configuration option ``[processing]storage_backend``, in a way similar
+  to rule manager.
+
+* Adds a new entry point to the setup.cfg::
+
+    ironic_inspector.introspection.storage_backend =
+        none = ironic_inspector.plugins.introspection_data:NoStore
+        swift = ironic_inspector.plugins.introspection_data:SwiftStore
+        database = ironic_inspector.plugins.introspection_data:DatabaseStore
+
+Alternatives
+------------
+
+None
+
+Data model impact
+-----------------
+
+A new table named ``introspection_data`` will be created, with three fields:
+
+* ``uuid``: String(36), foreign key to ``node.uuid``.
+* ``processed``: Boolean, used to determine whether the introspection data is
+  processed or not. Currently, inspector uses suffix ``UNPROCESSED`` for
+  unprocessed data, ``None`` for processed data, This will be mapped to the
+  boolean field.
+
+  .. note::
+     The Swift storage backend uses suffix as part of the object name:
+     ``inspector_data-<uuid>[-suffix]``.
+
+* ``data``: JsonEncodedDict(), LONGTEXT for MySQL. This field is used as
+  the storage of introspected data.
+
+When a node is removed from the cache, the associated introspection data will
+be removed as well.
+
+HTTP API impact
+---------------
+
+None
+
+Client (CLI) impact
+-------------------
+
+None
+
+Ironic python agent impact
+--------------------------
+
+None
+
+Performance and scalability impact
+----------------------------------
+
+None
+
+Security impact
+---------------
+
+None
+
+Deployer impact
+---------------
+
+Configuration option ``[processing]storage_backend`` will have ``database`` as
+a valid value. When set, the inspected data will be stored to ironic inspector
+database.
+
+Swift is not a mandatory requirement for storing introspection data in this
+case.
+
+Developer impact
+----------------
+
+After this feature is implemented, additional plugins can be implemented to
+support other type of stores.
+
+Upgrades and Backwards Compatibility
+------------------------------------
+
+Database upgrade will be handled by ironic-inspector-dbsync.
+
+Provides a tool to assist with the migration of existing introspection data
+between Swift and database, e.g.:
+
+.. code-block:: console
+
+   $ ironic-inspector-migrate-data --from swift --to database
+   $ ironic-inspector-migrate-data --from database --to swift
+
+Implementation
+==============
+
+Assignee(s)
+-----------
+
+Primary assignee:
+  kaifeng
+
+
+Work Items
+----------
+
+* Implements db layer support.
+* Implements inspection data plugin, migrates swift support into plugin as
+  a storage backend.
+* Implements database storage backend.
+* Creates introspection data plugin manager to load driver instance according
+  to configuration option, rework introspection data read/write access based
+  on interfaces provided by introspection data plugin.
+* Implements the tool to help with introspection data migration.
+
+Dependencies
+============
+
+None
+
+Testing
+=======
+
+This will be covered by unit tests and functional tests.
+
+
+References
+==========
+
+None