iSCSI, the acronym for Internet SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), is an Internet Protocol (IP) -based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Designed to carry SCSI commands over IP networks, iSCSI is used to facilitate data transfer over networks and manage storage needs over long distances. The iSCSI protocol is one of the key technologies expected to continue to push the rapid development of the Storage Area Network (SAN) market, by increasing the capabilities and performance of storage data transmission, while contributing to the declining cost and expense of storage technologies.

Previously, SAN implementations required Fibre Channel (FC) technology and its costly infrastructure of training, support, and proprietary components. Due to the growing cost of FC deployments and the significant management commitment required to keep them afloat, IP-based SAN technology has continued to gain momentum in the industry, making enterprise-level storage accessible to small and medium sized business (SMB) users for the first time.

Thanks to the ubiquity of IP networks, iSCSI can be used to transmit data over local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), or the Internet, and can enable location-independent data storage, backup, and retrieval. IP-SAN solutions are indeed becoming the preferred fast storage access solution for both enterprise and SMB users, thanks to their innovative features, high performance, and reasonable cost.

The IP storage market segment has grown at a significant pace in recent years, for a number of reasons. Low cost and increased optimization of data delivery speed and capability has provided the opportunity for network storage solutions with enterpriseclass features to be deployed in a staggering array of different configurations, for organizations large and small. The requirements that organizations are facing, some of them outlined above, have server to accelerate the demand for reliable, expandable storage and file sharing.