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Network Appliance First to Support Multiple iSCSI Initiators; NetApp Brings iSCSI Storage Consolidation Solutions to More Customers

Posted on: Monday, 18 August 2003, 06:00 CDT

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 18, 2003--With enterprises looking to consolidate their IT infrastructures, Network Appliance, Inc. (Nasdaq:NTAP), a leading provider of enterprise network storage solutions, announced it is the first to support Windows(R), Novell(R) NetWare(R), and Linux(R) native iSCSI initiators on Intel-based platforms, complementing existing support of the Intel(R) PRO/1000 T IP Storage Adapter and the Adaptec(R) 7211C and 7211F host bus adapters.

This marks a significant milestone for customers who want to network more of their data currently in direct-attached configurations using existing network infrastructure, reaping benefits of widespread, simplified administration and management, and greater architecture flexibility that result. This also marks a significant milestone for Network Appliance, which continues to set the market pace for iSCSI development, and now can help Novell customers enjoy the benefits of NetApp(R) storage in their environments.

"Network Appliance is supplying solutions that customers can deploy immediately across today's leading operating systems to gain advantage from upgrading their existing IT investments while preparing for new applications demanded of today's data-intensive networked storage infrastructures," said Mark Santora, senior vice president of marketing at Network Appliance. "iSCSI software initiators afford our customers that have used direct-attached storage the opportunity to advance to networked storage with maximum simplicity, minimum risk, and low cost. Network Appliance's leadership in iSCSI helps increase customer choice and flexibility, and demonstrates our continuing leadership in unified storage."

iSCSI is a storage protocol designed to transport block-level storage traffic over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, enabling businesses to cost-effectively network and consolidate their storage resources over widely deployed Ethernet infrastructures. iSCSI enables affordable SAN storage solutions for customers that have been looking to consolidate and centrally manage storage for their distributed server environments. iSCSI is especially appealing in Windows, Novell, Linux server environments where simplicity, flexibility, and price/performance are critical IT decision factors.

For NetApp customers, support of the Microsoft, Novell, and Linux iSCSI initiator software solutions, in combination with iSCSI protocol support in NetApp storage systems with no additional license fee, provides a compelling cost-free opportunity to test iSCSI in their departmental and regional data center environments.

Microsoft iSCSI Initiator

The majority of Microsoft servers applications today are deployed with direct-attached storage. The availability of a native iSCSI software initiator from Microsoft provides customers with a simple, cost-effective way to consolidate and centrally manage that data.

Microsoft's iSCSI initiator software driver supports Microsoft Windows(R) 2000 client and server versions, Windows XP, and the recently launched Windows Server(TM) 2003 family of products, and is available via Web download at no charge (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/).

Novell iSCSI Initiator

Novell's iSCSI software initiator software is supported in NetWare 6.5.1, 6.5 and 6.0, and is available for download at http://www.novell.com. Novell's initiator uses the iSCSI protocol to enable NetWare servers to communicate with an iSCSI storage target over a TCP/IP network, enabling customers to consolidate their NetWare storage. Novell's initiator also supports NetWare clusters for high availability.

Linux iSCSI Initiator

The Linux iSCSI software initiator was originally developed by the open source community on the SourceForge developers' site. It is now being supported by the leading Linux distributors, Red Hat and SuSE.

About Network Appliance

Network Appliance is a world leader in unified storage solutions for today's data-intensive enterprise. Since its inception in 1992, Network Appliance has delivered technology, product, and partner firsts that continue to drive "The evolution of storage.(TM)" Information about Network Appliance(TM) solutions and services is available at www.netapp.com.

NetApp is a registered trademark and Network Appliance and The evolution of storage are trademarks of Network Appliance Inc. in the United States and other countries. Novell and NetWare are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners.

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