iSCSI Storage

iSCSI SANs bring IP Network Storage to the mainstream

The recent standardization of the iSCSI protocol allows businesses to transfer SCSI network commands and data over any TCP/IP network. This has led some storage vendors to provide native end-to-end storage solutions over IP.This has lead to the rise of iSCSI storage devices, and solutions based on IP protocol that make SANs affordable and reasonable for almost anyone.

Advantages of iSCSI

iSCSI networked storage solutions are great choices because:

they are easy to administer - anyone that knows TCP/IP can administrate and manage a SAN infrastructure based on iSCSI
leverage your existing network infrastructure - in the past, SANs ran exclusively over Fibre networking, you had to install a Fibre network, including switches hubs, and HBAs to connect servers to Fibre, but you can use your existing LAN to fuel your SAN with iSCSI

iSCSI takes SCSI protocol data and encapsulates it in IP packets, so it can travel over any IP-based network.

iSCSI Storage Applications

Some great iSCSI storage applications include:

centralized data protection - you can continuously replicate data from satellite or remote offices over standard Ethernet connections, allowing you to centralize backup and management of your mission-critical data
fast data recovery - protect data from such soft errors as corruption of data, viruses, accidental deletions, all while ensuring the transactional integrity of your block-level data
disaster recovery - replicate your mission-critical databases and message stores over any WAN or LAN to a secondary site, protecting your block- and file-level data from site failures, and providing a path to quick recovery, providing continuous data availability in the event of a disaster