Advanced Industrial Computer xn-004-a1 Veröffentlichungshinweis
Xtore WSS R2 iSCSI Target release note
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Introduction
Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI)
Several protocols exist today that a disk controller uses to communicate with connected disk
drives such as ATA, SATA and SCSI. These are predefined standards that dictate how
commands such as read and write requests are packaged and sent between the controller
and drive. iSCSI is a new protocol that extends the SCSI standards by encapsulating SCSI
commands in TCP/IP packets. These commands are sent across a TCP/IP network enabling
servers to access storage that is located outside of the reach of its physical hardware. iSCSI
opens up a vast array of solutions such as consolidated storage, centralized backup and
remote disaster recovery.
In an iSCSI network, there are three components: a target, an initiator and a network that
interconnects the two. The target is analogous to the disk drives in the traditional locally
attached storage model, it serves up the disks to the initiator. The initiator can be thought of
as the traditional disk controller, it uses the disks hosted by the target. A TCP/IP network
interconnects the target and the initiator.
What is WinTarget?
Microsoft iSCSI Target is a powerful and full-featured software iSCSI target designed and
built for the Microsoft Windows platform. WinTarget creates virtual iSCSI disks from files
residing on a formatted volume or directly from a raw volume. These virtual iSCSI disks
are dynamically extendable to provide extra capacity on-demand enabling more efficient
storage utilization and eliminating unnecessary downtime typically associated with installing
new disks. By leveraging the advanced I/O capabilities of the Windows operating system,
WinTarget delivers performance comparable (and in some cases exceeding) hardware
iSCSI target solutions while maintaining compatibility with existing storage and networking
technologies as well as ensuring compatibility with upcoming technologies.
WinTarget is designed for the Windows administrator by providing seamless integration into
the Windows environment. A Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in provides a
familiar look-and- feel and is used to configure and manage iSCSI storage services. For
users who prefer web administration, WinTarget also features a Windows Storage Server user