Storage /

Come on, iSCSI

By Anne Skamarock
Network World Storage Newsletter, 01/21/02

Well, following on from my rant last week about technology that is taking much longer than expected to come to market, the discussion would not be complete without mentioning iSCSI. Like InfiniBand, we have been hearing about iSCSI for the last two years and have seen a plethora of demos at trade shows with little available in the market.

We have heard the messages and seen the " marketecture " slides targeted at the folks who are feeling the pain of trying to manage the ever-growing volumes of data/storage but don't have the money or the expertise to invest in another network infrastructure. So they may have to upgrade their current network from 10/100 Base-T to a fiber network capable of supporting 1G bit/sec traffic as well as scale to 10G bit/sec when that is available. But they were going to do that anyway. So, " Where's the beef? "

Today, there are iSCSI products out there, like IBM's 200i, iSCSI storage subsystem, and Cisco's SN 5420 Storage Router, that are well positioned as leaders when the market takes off. So what are they (and the market in general) waiting for? Well, for one, companies who would participate in the iSCSI market are waiting for IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) ratification of the iSCSI standard, " due in early 2002. " Ratification of this specification will take some of the guesswork out of implementing the iSCSI protocol. This is important for reducing interoperability issues that can arise.

Another thing the market is waiting for is host bus adapters (HBA) that take most, if not all, the TCP/IP network processing off the CPU and into the HBA. These HBAs handle the packaging and unpackaging of the data as it moves into and out of the application servers. Having this processing take place in the HBA by specialized hardware and firmware will increase the performance of the iSCSI solution. However, it is important to note that HBAs are NOT required to implement an iSCSI solution using native iSCSI disk subsystems today.

Finally, the market is waiting for volumes to increase to the point where the costs associated with the HBAs and storage subsystems, as well as IP routers are reduced. If the iSCSI market is targeted at departments and mid-sized businesses, the cost structures must fit with those markets, especially after the economic dip many companies experienced last year.

It's been mighty quiet over the last four months with regards to iSCSI. It's time to start up the band, once again and get those products out to the market!