Hello, You are correct that a "SAN" is more than just a protocol. You can create a "SAN" with SCSI, FC, infiniband, 10GbE, GbE, etc... Where I used to work, Storage Computer, we could create a SAN with 4x 160MB SCSI ports. They could all connect to the same volume, thus creating a SCSI SAN. You could also add 16x FC ports and have a SCSI/FC "SAN".
However, the proof that iSCSI based SANs are here to stay is that sales of iSCSI SANs continue to grow where others are not. Fibre Channel as a protocol doesn't have any built in features that make it perfect for SAN use. In fact, some of its design gets in the way. I.e. replication. Since you can't route it, you end up having to encapsulate it with TCP/IP to go across a WAN. Even the FC industry recognizes this. IMHO, that's a major driving force behind FCoE. http://wikibon.org/wiki/v/ISCSI_forecast:_DAS_is_odd_man_out <http://wikibon.org/wiki/v/ISCSI_forecast:_DAS_is_odd_man_out>You can argue whether Gartner or whoever are correct in their predictions. A SAN must provide scalability, and have a feature set that customers want at a reasonable cost. Modern iSCSI SANs can do just that. In part their popularity is due to reduced cost to purchase, install and maintain. iSCSI SAN vendors recognize this and focused on creating easier to setup and maintain. Some traditional SAN products, require dedicated staff, installation and maintenance costs are very high. It can cost thousands of dollars to have your FC SAN reconfigured. Or additional license fees for their advanced features. There are even free iSCSI SANs, i.e. ietd, out there. Costing little more than a PC with local storage, NICs and a small GbE switch. Is an iSCSI SAN perfect for every customer? Probably not. Is the iSCSI protocol suitable for SANs? Absolutely. On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 8:59 AM, Peter Chacko <peterchack...@gmail.com>wrote: > > Hi , > > First of all, please correct me if you can prove that i need more > education !! > > My question is, is IP-SAN just a dream ? how far iSCSI reached that > goal ? Whats features that iSCSI have, which force to call it a SAN ? > I wish to argue that its just a client-server protocol that access > block storage over an IP Network. Its just a SAN access protocol, not > a SAN itself. > > Please beat me professionally, i would appreciate that...:-) > > Peter chacko, > Principal technologist, > Sciendix information systems Pvt.Ltd, > Bangalore, India. > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "open-iscsi" group. To post to this group, send email to open-iscsi@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to open-iscsi+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/open-iscsi -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
