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• November 20, 2003 •
This week, Microsoft announced that 14 leading storage hardware vendors have qualified their Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) hardware products for use with Windows® under the Microsoft® Designed for Windows Logo Program. As a result, customers now have a wide choice of tested iSCSI hardware components designed to interoperate with Windows and the Microsoft iSCSI Architecture. Released in June 2003, Microsoft's iSCSI Software Initiator makes it possible for businesses to take advantage of existing network infrastructure to enable block-based storage over wide distances, without having to invest in additional hardware.
"Today's announcement is a major step forward in making IP storage networks more accessible and cost-effective for customers, with Microsoft's iSCSI Software Initiator as a prime driver," said Zane Adam, director of product management and marketing for the Enterprise Storage Division at Microsoft. "We're pleased to be working with our storage industry partners to bring iSCSI solutions to market."
Microsoft extended the Designed for Windows Logo Program to include iSCSI devices to enable independent hardware vendors to qualify their iSCSI hardware components for use with Windows. Companies that have thus far passed the tests and qualified their products include Adaptec Inc., Advanced Digital Information Corp., ATTO Technology Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Crossroads Systems Inc., EqualLogic Inc., Intel Corp., Intransa Inc., LeftHand Networks Inc., McDATA Corp., Network Appliance Inc., QLogic Corp., Spectra Logic Corp. and storageconnections.net. Qualification of these iSCSI devices helps ensure interoperability and quality assurance for Windows customers. The new device category is available to iSCSI hardware targets and iSCSI host bus adapters (HBAs) that pass the program's required tests.
Ratified by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), iSCSI is an industry-standard storage protocol designed to transport block-level storage traffic over Internet protocol (IP) networks. It enables low-cost solutions that provide businesses with performance, reliability and security technologies for their storage area networks (SANs). According to Gartner Dataquest,* by 2007 iSCSI will emerge to connect more than 1.6 million servers to SANs — more than any competing technology.
For more information on Microsoft's support for iSCSI, a quick listing of iSCSI hardware devices that have obtained the Designed for Windows Logo, and a link to download the latest Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator package can be found at Microsoft's Storage Web site.
Related Article: Microsoft Delivers iSCSI Support for Windows
