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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / JULY 7, 2003: VOL. 2 NO. 27
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Breaking News -
Storage:
Microsoft Delivers iSCSI Support
For Windows
Microsoft Corp has announced the availability of its Internet Small
Computer
System Interface (iSCSI) software initiator package, including the Microsoft
iSCSI initiator service and the Microsoft iSCSI initiator software driver.
Available now via Web download at no charge at
www.microsoft.com/downloads/, the software driver is for
Microsoft
Windows 2000 client and server versions, Windows XP, and the recently launched
Windows Server 2003 family of products.
Recently ratified by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), iSCSI is a
storage protocol designed to transport block-level storage traffic over
Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It enables low-cost solutions that provide
businesses with performance, reliability and security technologies for their
storage area networks (SANs). According to Gartner Dataquest,* by 2006 iSCSI
will emerge to connect nearly 1.5 million servers to SANs -- more than any
competing technology.
Microsoft is playing an important role in bringing the storage vendor
community together to make iSCSI-based applications and storage devices a
reality for customers. More than 85 independent software vendors (ISVs) and
independent hardware vendors (IHVs) are developing Windows-based applications
and storage hardware products for iSCSI. To ensure technology interoperability
and quality assurance for its customers, Microsoft has created an iSCSI
Designed for Windows Logo Program to enable IHVs to qualify their
Windows-targeted iSCSI hardware components for optimal reliability and
interoperability with Microsoft Windows products.
Microsoft's iSCSI initiator package download includes support for data
encryption including Internet Protocol Security (IPsec), Internet Storage Name
Service for both server and client, management via Windows Management
Instrumentation (WMI), and an architecture that aggregates the different
hardware initiators into a common framework.
About the Microsoft Enterprise Storage Division
Microsoft's Enterprise Storage Division was formed to bring greater focus
to
Microsoft's customers' increasingly complex storage requirements. The division
is focused on three primary objectives: to make Windows a better platform for
storage, to catalyze the industry to develop innovative storage solutions and
to bring to market Microsoft storage products.
Additional information on Microsoft's storage offerings can be found at
www.microsoft.com/storage/.
Information on the iSCSI
Designed for
Windows Logo Program can be found at
www.microsoft.com/winlogo/benefits/default.mspx.
* Opfer, James. "Storage Network Infrastructure 2002: Market Share and
Forecast," June 25, 2002
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