Of particular interest is Brocade's view of interoperability, which the vendor suggests may become as big an issue in the iSCSI world as it has been in the FCP domain; most other respondents disagree, and we stand by our assertion that standards-based interoperability is the only real guarantor of open solutions and a linchpin in avoiding vendor lock-in. Brocade does, however, make a reasonable argument that the iSCSI cost model is off-kilter when you add in the cost for specialized HBAs for SAN-based booting and TOE offload.
Brocade Communications Systems, (408) 333-8000. www.brocade.com
Cisco Systems
Cisco told us at the outset that it doesn't advocate a particular technology, but instead seeks to support whatever the customer wants or needs. It observed that "the importance of interconnect speeds is highly dependent on the applications themselves." Moreover, most Windows-based apps aren't likely to "generate significant and consistent I/O traffic, thus will not require high-speed interconnect." It added that iSCSI may be a good fit for low-cost Windows servers.
A surprise to us was Cisco's recommendation that SAN management be kept out of band--for example, operated across a separate network--even in an iSCSI SAN. No explanation is offered for this guidance, which runs afoul of past assertions made by the company regarding the consolidation of fabric and network functions in an iSCSI SAN.
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