KERNSAFE - iSCSI SAN Software and Storage Virtualization

The goal is for the midrange environment to be able to obtain iSCSI-block I/O pooled storage, with performance as good as that of Fibre Channel but at lower cost. However, the midrange customer will still face the dilemma of iSCSI versus NAS. The same consideration and planning should be done in this environment as in the small office environment. The only difference is in the capabilities and price of the competing offerings.

The other consideration in midrange company environments is that they have desktops and laptops that feed the server systems, which will also, from time to time, need additional storage. Their users will want to get the additional storage and have it managed along with the server storage. This is similar to the needs of SoHo environments: Instead of spending time upgrading internal disk storage, they want to get their additional storage via the network they are already plugged into.

With the new copper 1000Mb/s Ethernet adapters, users can have both a high-speed interactive network and a high-speed storage network, all without changing the Cat. 5 Ethernet cable already installed throughout their company. iSCSI storage controllers can supply the needs of both servers and client desktops and laptops.

see figure 1.

Figure 1

Still, the argument is often made that a NAS solution can address the needs of desktops and laptops. This is true, but at a higher cost. As pointed out earlier, in the small office environment many applications are being written to use databases. They generally use a "shared nothing" approach and therefore provide an information-sharing environment in which NAS is not required. Again, if files need to be shared, NAS is appropriate; otherwise, a block I/O interface best meets the requirements. iSCSI is the most cost-effective approach for non-shared pooled storage.

Suggested license: Standard License or Ultimate License.