iSER as Accelerator for Software Defined Storage

Storage SANs are currently dominated by FC (Fibre Channel) technologies due to its effectiveness in providing high bandwidth, low latency and high throughput. However with the advent and popularity of low latency all-flash arrays and need of cloud centric data centers which are standardizing on Ethernet, iSER is getting more visibility as next generation high speed interconnect. Since iSER uses standard Ethernet interface it is also suitable to new data center paradigms that use Hyper-Converged Infrastructure. ISER has scope to be better in the areas of security (CHAP, IPSec), performance and cost effectiveness compare to any other technologies. Latest technology like SDN and network virtualization are targeting Ethernet as the infrastructure of choice for optimization, hence any Ethernet based technology like iSER will be benefitted from such technologies before they benefic technologies like FC. Most storage vendors are actively working on new RDMA based networking technology plans to support iSER e.g. iWARP from Chelsio and Intel and RoCE from Mellanox and Emulex are jumping onto the iSER boat to provide RDMA based storage capability. This paper will talk about why and how iSER is the most compelling next generation data centre technology of choice over existing protocols, primarily from the perspective of performance, cost, ease of administration, security and benefits from latest advances in networking technology like SDN and network virtualization.

Learning Objectives

iSER vs Fibre Chennal in Enterprise SAN
How iSER is making relevance in Enterprise SAN
iSER Ecosystems