Storage Infrastructure
Overall, iSCSI brought simplification. The use of standard networking gear for storage traffic is a major benefit. "We're a Cisco shop, and we put in a 1GB Ethernet switch, and that's it. If it goes down, it's easy to move to another port on another switch, whereas to have a Fibre Channel switch sitting on the shelf as a failover, or even having one online for redundancy, is very complicated." The Gem Group, a Lawrence, Massachusetts, business specializing in promotional wares, also moved from Fibre Channel to iSCSI. It was outgrowing its Xiotech Fibre Channel implementation and evaluated Fibre Channel and iSCSI replacements last year. Its requirement for failover quickly ruled out four of the initial eight contenders on cost grounds, says Brian Smith, technology manager for Gem. The four remaining solutions — from EMC, Xiotech, Compellent Technologies and EqualLogic — all appeared to be in the same price range. After Gem Group looked at the cost of management, as well as upfront price, however, only Compellent remained. Going with iSCSI meant that Gem Group, with a small IT staff, could rely on its existing TCP/IP and IP expertise. "Pricing was huge, but also, with just 18 people on the IT staff, we all wear a lot of different hats, and I was the only one who knew Fibre Channel after administering it for four years. It's difficult to manage, and learning it takes time. We're growing our business, putting in a new ERP system, and
we don't want the added expense of Fibre Channel expertise," Smith says.
38% Of existing Fibre Channel customers who have deployed iSCSI believe that the latter will replace Fibre.
Source: Enterprise Strategy Group
the Case for fibre Channel Of course, just as few companies have ripped out mainframes in favor of PC-based servers, enterprises will not forklift out Fibre Channel for iSCSI. "Fibre Channel will be around for a long time to come," says Tony Asaro, analyst for Enterprise Strategy Group. "There's a ton of investment in Fibre Channel in time, money and resources," he says. Asaro adds that religious and political fiefdoms within companies can prolong a technology's life span. There are storage constituencies within organizations that have bet on Fibre Channel and will defend it to the end. The result doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. Scott Winslow, founder and CEO of Winslow Technology Group, a Boston storage specialist, estimates 10 percent to 15 percent of his customers are on iSCSI, 30 percent on Fibre Channel and about 60 percent on a combination. A common misperception about iSCSI SANs is that they can run on the same Ethernet backbone as other traffic. That is technically true, but the thought of such commingling is anathema to some experts, who cite security concerns. In reality, the recommended implementation for iSCSI storage is to run it on a separate Ethernet
How Happy are you witH iSCSi SaNS? An Enterprise Strategy Group survey asked customers about their organization’s satisfaction level with the following attributes of its iSCSI SANs. NEtWORk PERfORmANCE 29% Very Satisfied 58% Satisfied 10% Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 3% Dissatisfied
EAsE Of INstALLA stALLAt stALLA ALLAtION 19% Very Satisfied 55% Satisfied 18% Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 8% Dissatisfied
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A P R I L 1 5 , 2 0 0 8 | REAL CIO WORLD
OPERAt PERA IONAL COst PERAt
EAsE Of mANAgEmENt
24% Very Satisfied 52% Satisfied 17% Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 7% Dissatisfied RELIAbILIty fOR mIssION CRI RIt tICAL APPLICA PPLICAtIONs 17% Very Satisfied 55% Satisfied 24% Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 2% Dissatisfied 2% Very Dissatisfied
22% Very Satisfied 54% Satisfied 16% Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 4% Dissatisfied 4% Very Dissatisfied CAPItAL tAL COst tAL 27% Very Satisfied 45% Satisfied 26% Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 2% Dissatisfied
Vol/3 | ISSUE/11