In the Fibre Channel world, scaling often means adding more and faster switch ports to extend the fabric's bandwidth and connectivity. But IP storage (mainly iSCSI) is a growing area of SAN expansion, using ubiquitous Ethernet network technology to pass storage data between storage devices. This requires the use of IP switches and routers, and can involve the deployment of iSCSI TOE host adapters to offload iSCSI traffic from the local server's CPU. This Buying Guide is intended to help clarify the principle considerations involved scaling storage networks and each chapter offers a set of buying points and product specifications that can help readers identify prospective new scaling products.
