We tested two iSCSI HBAs, the Adaptec iSCSI Adapter 7211C card and the Intel Pro/1000 T IP Storage Adapter, and one TOE card, the Alacritech 1001x1 Copper Single-Port Server and Storage Accelerator (we pity the advertising agency that has to come up with a catchy jingle for that).
Our test setup used a Cisco 9216 Fibre Channel switch with an iSCSI blade, a Nishan 3000 Series Storage Switch, a Cisco Catalyst 3550 Gigabit Ethernet switch, and a Eurologic SANbloc 2 Fibre Channel RAID enclosure with 14 73-GB drives. The cards were tested in three identical Dell 2650 2U servers with 1 GB of memory and two 2.6-GHz Pentium 4 processors.
Overall, we found these products a little raw. For example, many ease-of-use and convenience features are missing. Command-line implementations are common. But after talking with vendors, we believe that many of these early look-and-feel issues will soon be resolved. Moreover, even without management bells and whistles, iSCSI is not terribly hard to use.
Our individual results were interesting, to say the least. The Alacritech card performed well in every test--provided it had two targets (see "Multiple Target Woes"). But its overall CPU utilization was a bit higher than that of its rivals. The Adaptec card, meanwhile, didn't function as well in throughput or read tests, but it turned in a strong overall performance, with ry good CPU-utilization numbers. For its part, the Intel Pro/1000 T IP Storage Adapter did well in most tests and aced CPU utilization, but it has performance issues with reading, regardless of the number of targets.
The wild card was our NWC Custom test, which we designed to simulate real-world access patterns. The Adaptec iSCSI-7211C scored very well in this test and was simply the most consistent card in performance, posting CPU utilization scores that won outright or came very close in every test. Throw in a very competitive price (all pricing is MSRP) and you have an Editor's Choice award winner.
Adaptec iSCSI Adapter 7211C (Copper) | Alacritech 1000x1 Copper Single-Port Server and Storage Accelerator | Intel Pro/1000 T IP Storage Adapter
Adaptec iSCSI Adapter 7211C (Copper)
We installed this sweet little card in a Dell 2650 and had no problem getting it up and running. Driver installation was simple as well. The 7211C sports a standard PCI form factor in a standard PCI 64-bit, 66-MHz slot. Like the Intel Pro/1000 T IP Storage Adapter, it runs its own iSCSI initiator and looks like a standard SCSI card to the system.
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