4.3 Emerging Role of IP

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One of the hottest new trends in building storage networks is the use of the ubiquitous IP. Nishan Systems, for example, has launched a development effort that it claims is the definitive convergence of storage and networking. The company’s Storage over Internet Protocol (SoIP) connects storage devices and servers more economically than Fibre Channel and ATM. Along with its strategic partners, Nishan intends to offer fully interoperable products that allow organizations to access and share stored data in a high-performance, manageable, and scalable SAN. And since the products are based on the worldwide standard IP and Gigabit Ethernet, they will be fully compatible with the vast installed base of routers and switches that IT professionals are already familiar with.

Another protocol, IP SAN, also known as iSCSI for Internet protocol small computer system interface, uses the IP networking infrastructure to transport large amounts of block storage data over existing LANs and WANs. Among the companies with IP SAN solutions is IBM. The company’s IP Storage 200i provides storage that is directly attachable to an Ethernet LAN. This solution supports heterogeneous Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Linux clients, enabling users to take advantage of many SAN-like capabilities without the infrastructure and support cost of Fibre Channel SAN environments.

With the potential to support all major networking protocols, IP SAN can unify network architecture across an entire enterprise, reducing the overall network cost and complexity, while ensuring widespread availability. To facilitate administration, IP SAN can use known network management tools and utilities that have been developed for IP networks. IBM’s IP Storage 200i, for example, comes with a browser-based interface that allows system administrators to easily configure the system, set permissions, and implement changes from anywhere on the network.

To meet an organization’s diverse connectivity requirements, there are single-product solutions that address the challenges of connecting multiple SAN islands across a variety of network topologies. Entrada Networks, for example, offers a SAN over IP switch called Silverline. The switch features an assortment of network connection options that include T3 for today’s ATM-based WANs, OC-3 and higher feeds for WAN/MAN networks, and Gigabit Ethernet for implementing SANs over existing high-speed IP networks. In supporting connectivity for the most commonly used WAN services, this solution meets today’s current and emerging storage needs, while allowing for future technology migration, bandwidth scalability, and convergence.

Another IP-based storage solution comes from StoneFly, which offers the benefitsof SANs through inexpensive, easy-to-maintain IP SAN appliances called storage-concentrators. The units combine the functionality of an iSCSI-based storage router, bridge, and extensible logical volume manager to provide organizations with an end-to-end storage provisioning solution and a simple way to manage storage assets, increase administrative productivity, and reduce network complexity. Through a Web browser, administrators can manage storage operations, including controlling distributed storage concentrators, centrally and securely from anywhere on the Internet.

Storage concentrators consolidate SAN block data to move intelligence to the network core to allow easy management of storage assets, as well as interoperability and scalability, to reduce the complexity and total cost of ownership of SANs. The concentrators provide in-band iSCSI block-level storage pooling to enable administrators to access storage without the need to know where the devices are located on the network or how they are configured. Virtual volumes are delivered to hosts connected over existing Ethernet networks, without the need for host-based agents or a separate metadata out-of-band storage management device.

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