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Is EMC Overshooting on iSCSI?: Page 2 of 3

But at least initially, adoption of iSCSI for Symmetrix will probably be limited, writes Laura Conigliaro, an analyst with Goldman Sachs & Co., in a note to investors today. "We doubt that iSCSI will show up much at the high end as a substitute for Fibre Channel, although it could, at some point, find some niches," she writes. "More likely is that it will increase its presence in the low end and midrange over the next year or two."

Indeed, EMC may be years ahead of customers in delivering iSCSI support for data-center storage systems, analysts say.

"We've found that large enterprises have an interest in testing iSCSI, but even successful pilots won't translate into significant demand for iSCSI-only solutions for several more years," says Rick Villars, analyst at IDC. He adds that any direct financial impact by iSCSI on Fibre Channel vendors won't be noticeable until 2006 at the earliest.

All the same, EMC's move is clearly a vote of confidence for iSCSI, a protocol that provides block-level over standard IP networking equipment (see iSCSI Gets Go-Ahead). Its support follows product rollouts by other major vendors, including Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), and Network Appliance Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP) (see Panel: iSCSI Clear for Takeoff, Microsoft Sparks iSCSI Liftoff, Cisco & IBM Jam on SANs, Cisco Implants IP in SANs, and NetApp Blitzes on iSCSI).

"For iSCSI uptake this absolutely helps," says Webster. "Data-center storage admins could now get the feeling that it's OK to jump in and try this iSCSI thing out."