Cisco Systems has unveiled an iSCSI/Fibre Channel-over-IP storage
router which, industry experts believe, points to the company's
direction in the storage networking market.
The SN 5428 storage router will allow workgroups and small
businesses to create storage area networks (SAN) using a
combination of Fibre Channel, gigabit Ethernet and SCSI over IP
(iSCSI) protocols over an IP network.
The 5428 is Cisco's second foray into the storage-over-IP market.
In April last year, Cisco released the 5420, a gateway device that
connected Fibre Channel storage devices over an IP network.
Analysts described the launch of the 5420 as a trial balloon into
the Fibre Channel connectivity marketplace, which proved to have
few takers.
The 5428, priced at $11,995, has two gigabit Ethernet ports, eight
Fibre Channel ports and three management ports.
Tony Prigmore, an analyst at Enterprise Storage Group, said the
5428 router is a midpoint iteration between the 5420 and the
upcoming release of a multiprotocol, highly intelligent storage
switch from Andiamo Systems, a storage networking vendor that is
mostly owned by Cisco.
Doug Ingraham, senior manager of marketing for Cisco's storage
technology group, said the 5428 would allow servers in enterprise
workgroups, which include corporate departments and small and
medium-sized businesses, to access consolidated storage in a SAN
while allowing networking administrators to use "all the tools they
were familiar with to set up and manage the network".
Benefits included easier management, more efficient storage and
centralised backup, Ingraham said.
"It integrates both IP and Fibre Channel into the product, so
servers can decide which technology [they] want to use," Ingraham
said. "If you have high-performance servers that need ultrahigh
bandwidth or low latency, you can connect that the Fibre Channel
side."
ISCSI takes SCSI data and commands and encapsulates them in IP
packets for transport over networks. Cisco and other storage over
IP vendors, such as Nishan Systems, are still awaiting the release
of the iSCSI standard. It is expected to be out by the end of the
summer.