How does an IP host locate a server on a SAN?

[Andrew Richards]

[Tom Elgin] “Would it be correct to say that iSCSI and FC are the protocols that make SANs possible? “

Go one layer lower- SCSI is the protocol that makes SANs possible, and iSCSI, FC and SAS all utilize it. Those can all also be switched, using Ethernet, FC, or SAS switches respectively.

Best,
Andy

[Steve Modica]

I went back and read this a couple of times to understand what’s being asked. A “server” on a SAN network would usually be a metadata server.

The closest I could come would be “how do iSCSI clients (which could be interpreted as part of a SAN) find their iSCSI targets (which could be interpreted as “servers”). In that case, they usually use isns (internet storage name service). Several vendors support this, but not all vendors. In most cases, people just “know” the ip address. FCoE does broadcast discovery. One of the interesting things about FCoE is it just finds and mounts everything 🙂 So you need to segment things off with zoning. That’s just the way it’s done.

Steve

Steve Modica
CTO, Small Tree Communications

[Tom Elgin]

Thanks for that info Steve. That’s the first time I’ve ran across the term isns. Yet another acronym to memorize lol

[Alex Gerulaitis]

[Steve Modica] “I went back and read this a couple of times to understand what’s being asked.”

Steve, were my answers generally on target? I only know enough to be dangerous – and would love to get a better understanding how all this stuff works.

Alex Gerulaitis
Systems Integrator
DV411 – Los Angeles, CA

[Steve Modica]

[Alex Gerulaitis] “[Tom Elgin] “In a SAN, devices are identified by their WWN.”

I don’t believe that’s the case. WWN is used in Fibre Channel, ATA, SAS. In themselves, those aren’t SANs.”

The semantics involved in all this are ugly. People regularly call our NAS offering a SAN.
FIbre Channel, GSN, iSCSI, and AOE all offer “SAN”. They are storage networks. Xsan, CXFS, MetaSAN, and FibreJet are all products that offer gatekeeping/sharing capability on your SAN. In and of themselves, they are not SANS.

Steve Modica
CTO, Small Tree Communications