Storage-area networks that use the Internet SCSI protocol are gaining acceptance with corporate IT as a supplement to ― or a complete replacement for ― Fibre Channel SANs. Products supporting the new iSCSI protocol issue SCSI commands and transfer block data over existing IP networks, allowing administrators to move storage networks onto existing Ethernet LAN infrastructures or new Ethernet subnetworks instead of building and maintaining a separate Fibre Channel network. With iSCSI, there's no need for highly paid Fibre Channel specialists or expensive Fibre Channel switches, host bus adapters and cabling. And with IP SANs, existing Ethernet networks can be used to back up servers as well. For example, Microsoft Corp. has released a software driver that supports iSCSI-based backups of Windows systems.
展开▼
