SNS offers free iSCSI SAN drivers for OS X
updated 09:50 am EDT, Tue March 13, 2007
SNS offers iSCSI SAN
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) today announced that it is offering a free download of its iSCSI initiator software for Mac OS X. The software allows Macs to utilize iSCSI storage, a new generation of networked-attached storage that offers high performance access for multiple computers. When deployed over a Gigabit or 10-Gigabit Ethernet network, an iSCSI-based storage area network (SAN) can offer similar performance to that of a Fibre Channel SAN, while costing much less to implement, according to the company. iSCSI SAN require an initiator for each computer that requires access to the networked storage. Although an initiator is freely available for most major operating systems, an iSCSI initiator is not shipped with Apple's Mac OS X; however, with its announcement today Studio Network Solutions has released 3.0 of its globalSAN iSCSI initiator for Mac OS X.
"We've been shipping our Mac initiator with our SANmp sharing software and globalSAN line of shared storage systems since 2004," stated Eric Newbauer, Director of Operations for Studio Network Solutions. "We've focused on optimizing our iSCSI products so that they perform very well under conditions where you'd normally expect to need a Fibre Channel SAN. For example, our customers are using our products with professional audio and video editing software like Avid, Pro Tools and Final Cut Pro – these applications are extremely dependent on high throughput and low latency."
Version 3.0 of the globalSAN iSCSI initiator for OS X is a Universal Application, for Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs. The initiator supports CHAP, persistent targets, SLPv2 and Multiple Connections per Session. This publicly available version is not a timed evaluation or feature-locked – it is being offered for download to any end-user who would like to take advantage of iSCSI in an OS X-only, or a mixed operating system SAN environment.
SNS will be demonstrating its latest iSCSI and Fibre Channel products at the upcoming NAB tradeshow in Las Vegas, April 14-19, location SL4830.
