iSCSI bus gets moving

QLogic and LSI Logic have this week launched the first host bus adapters supporting iSCSI - an essential building block for the assembly of storage solutions based on the freshly-approved networking protocol.

Host bus adapters (HBAs) are necessary in storage area networks (SANs) to connect client machines, and as such are critical in building hardware for SANs. While end users would not normally buy HBAs by themselves, the adapters would be integrated into other vendors' products that would then be bought by users.

QLogic integrated iSCSI support into its SANblade HBA, to go alongside support for Ethernet and TCP/IP traffic. For its part, LSI Logic introduced a new model called the LSI5201, supporting 1Gbps traffic and two ports.

While it is possible to build an iSCSI solution without a HBA specifically supporting the protocol, the LSI Logic and QLogic adapters take the weight of processing off the CPU of their host hardware, according to the companies. Thus far, Cisco Systems is the only hardware vendor to commit to using either of the HBAs in future iSCSI-supporting hardware products.

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