Backup has been cited as one of the key initial applications for iSCSI, since the protocol allows block-level storage access without the distance limitations of Fibre Channel or SCSI. Other tape vendors have demonstrated iSCSI connectivity, most notably Quantum Corp. (NYSE: DSS), which has had iSCSI projects cooking for at least a year and a half (see iSCSI Travels 7,500 Miles, Quantum|ATL Forges Ahead on iSCSI , ATTO Takes iSCSI to Tape, and Okapi Demos iSCSI Backup).
In just the past two months, iSCSI has gathered a good deal of momentum, with the official ratification of the spec by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and large vendors like Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Network Appliance Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP) throwing their weight behind it (see IP SANs: Coming of Age, Microsoft to Unleash iSCSI, LSI Lines Up iSCSI Mates, EqualLogic Tallies $15M, Silverback Makes iSCSI Howl, NetApp Blitzes on iSCSI, and iSCSI Gets Go-Ahead).
But not everyone believes the day has come for iSCSI just yet. "You can't just plug into an IP network and you're off and running. That's just hooey," says Steve Whitner, director of marketing at tape library supplier Advanced Digital Information Corp. (Nasdaq: ADIC). "People are going to have to make sure all the right pieces are in place. There's still some industry building to go on."
Whitner expects the iSCSI market to start to coalesce around the end of the year, which is when ADIC expects to support iSCSI.
Todd Spangler, US Editor, Byte and Switch
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