"Only where connectivity and low cost of installation are of paramount importance will iSCSI succeed at 1 Gbit/s," write Gartner Inc. analysts Nick Allen and James Opfer in a research note published last fall.
Today, iSCSI simply doesn't offer enough to induce people to tear the walls down and pull out the pipes, says Bruce Hillsberg, director of storage software strategy in IBM Corp.'s (NYSE: IBM) systems group. "The iSCSI-vs-Fibre Channel decision is like whether to use copper piping or PVC piping," he says. "It's really a question of which technology better suits your needs. But unless you're building a new house, you're going to keep the plumbing you have."
We're now coming out of the low point of the trough in the iSCSI hype cycle. Instead of conquering the SAN market in one fell swoop, iSCSI's Second Wave is about two things:
So what does this mean for how the IP SAN market will develop?
The first area is interesting, but it doesn't strike me as one that will remain discrete for very long. Why? Because it's a stopgap measure, not a long-term, strategic architecture. You can drop in one of Cisco's iSCSI-to-Fibre Channel routers to connect "stranded" servers via Ethernet to an existing SAN. But you wouldn't design a SAN like that from scratch if you didn't have to. And anyway, all of the Fibre Channel switch players expect to provide iSCSI or FCIP (or both) into their platforms, making this more a feature than a product (see Sprint Puts Cisco to Test, Brocade Reupholsters Rhapsody, McData's Psyched About Software, McData Demos FCIP).
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