Next, consider what type of hard disk drive you'll need. There's no such thing as an Ethernet hard disk drive. All drives are a form of SCSI, Fibre Channel or ATA (AT Attachment). Thankfully, some companies, such as IBM, LSI Logic and Adaptec's Eurologic Systems, make enclosures that act as iSCSI targets--this eliminates the need to buy a translative device. If you buy the storage device with its native interface, however, you must attach it to a storage switch from Cisco Systems, McData (Nishan Systems), Crossroads Networks or another translative device vendor, which creates an extra step. Still, if you already have these drives, that's the way to go--use the brand of Ethernet switch you're used to. If you're a Cisco shop, use Cisco. If you're a Nortel shop, use Nortel.
To the switch, an iSCSI packet is just another TCP/IP packet. Network usage levels are determined the same way as they are on the rest of your Ethernet network. At the server or, in iSCSI terms, the initiator, you simply have to choose a TOE card or an iSCSI HBA. iSCSI HBAs generally come with their own software initiator, while TOE cards use a third-party initiator to work. Microsoft and the open-source community offer iSCSI initiators free.
Steven J. Schuchart Jr. covers storage and servers for Network Computing. Write to him at
[email protected].
Post a comment or question on this story.
1) Run your iSCSI SAN on a separate network, not on the generalized data network.
2) You'll need TOE or iSCSI HBA acceleration to avoid excessive CPU utilization.
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