iSCSI Storage Server

The first easy to use Windows Server solution to deliver seamlessly integrated network storage services and intelligent storage management, to ensure that critical databases and messaging systems are easily managed, reliably protected, and highly available.

IT professionals continue to search for a cost-effective SAN infrastructure that can centralize the management and provisioning of legacy as well as advanced storage devices, while delivering industrial strength storage services to hosts attached to a network-attached storage (NAS) network via a file-based protocol (i.e. CIFS, NFS, AFP) or via hosts attached to a storage area network (SAN) via block-based iSCSI protocol.

There is a solution: iSCSI Storage Server for Windows from Storage Engine, the first full-featured solution to deliver seamlessly integrated network storage services for Windows Servers including the aggregation and provisioning of iSCSI disk to application hosts over an existing IP network.

iSCSI Storage Server delivers an advanced Storage Pooling functionality that aggregates disk capacity and provisions disk via iSCSI to application hosts, including Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server and Oracle, without downtime. As a result, iSCSI Storage Server reduces operating costs by eliminating the need to purchase new servers and significantly simplifies storage management tasks.

Why Storage Engine iSCSI Storage Server? Real business benefits...
Ideal for SMBs & enterprise remote offices/workgroups

Achieves Recovery Point Objectives via Rapid Recovery

Offers Continuous Data Protection for Direct Attached Storage

Delivers Improved Disaster Recovery Capabilities via Replication Solution

Achieves Recovery Point Objectives via Rapid Recovery Solutions

iSCSI Storage Server also offers a unique, Snapshot Service that provides thirty-two (32) delta-based, point-in-time (PiT) recovery points and safeguards against soft-errors such as accidental deletions, file corruptions, and virus attacks. In addition to increasing backup frequency, and reducing the risk window, file-level recoveries can be performed quickly and efficiently without the need to restore from tape. In addition, the iSCSI Storage Server allows users or applications to request fast, space-efficient delta snapshots via Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) interface, and performs policy-based, automatic delta snapshots of application hosts to significantly reduce potential data loss and ensure business continuity.

iSCSI Storage Server offers a wide variety of advanced storage services designed to rapidly restore your database or message system within minutes or even seconds. The Storage Engine Database Aware Snapshot Agents protect valuable data from soft errors such as accidental deletions, corruptions, and viruses if needed, you can elect to rollback to a database or mailbox status of minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months prior. Even individual mail messages accidentally deleted can be retrieved, quickly and fully intact.

Key Benefit: Increases backup frequency with 100% guaranteed data integrity and eliminates the need to perform time-consuming Checkdisk, FSCK, and database recovery procedures to achieve recovery point objectives (RPO).

Continuous Data Protection for Direct Attached Storage

iSCSI Storage Server provides continuous data protection for direct attached storage with DiskSafe. When coupled with a Database Aware Snapshot Agent (see list above), application data is replicated and backed up in a valid, transactionally accurate state. In addition to continuous data replication for maximum data protection of direct attached storage, DiskSafe enables user initiated backup and recovery operations and fully leverages iSCSI Storage Server Snapshot Agent technology to deliver point-in-time recovery of databases. To ensure full and rapid recovery, DiskSafe supports remote boot recovery via iSCSI HBA or PXE. And supports remote restore via recovery CD.

With iSCSI Storage Server and DiskSafe, IT managers can easily achieve even the most stringent recovery point and recovery time objectives.

Key Benefit: Delivers superior data protection with centralized management via continuous block-based replication of direct attached storage.

Improved Disaster Recovery Capabilities via Replication Solution

iSCSI Storage Server is an essential component of that disaster recovery plan in that it optimizes business continuity in the event of a site failure or rolling disaster. This unique solution offers an advanced delta Replication Service designed to reliably replicate an application hosts’ mission-critical data from a primary site to a disaster recovery site over IP in a peer-to-peer or many-to-one configuration, based on policy.

Following a disaster, reverse synchronization can be achieved by moving the newer data from the remote site back to the primary site. iSCSI Storage Server facilitates this “role reversal” by scanning for differences, minimizing the time and capacity necessary to re-establish the primary site. iSCSI Storage Server leverages application-specific (Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server, and Oracle) Snapshot Agents to ensure database integrity and facilitates rapid recovery by eliminating the time needed to check or rebuild an application’s database.

Key Benefit: Maintains consistent point-in-time copies of database or message system data to ensure immediate, granular recovery from primary disk and site failures and achieve continuous business operations in case of disaster.

Building on this Snapshot Agent technology, the iSCSI Storage Server Consistency Group feature allows virtual drives to be grouped for snapshot synchronization purposes. Snapshots for all resources in a group are taken at the same point-in-time for Snapshot, Replication, and Backup Services. This feature, working in conjunction with the database-aware Snapshot Agents, ensures transactional integrity for database files that reside on multiple file systems.

Storage Engine iSCSI Storage Server Ensures System-Level Compatibility

To expedite deployment and ensure system-level compatibility, Storage Engine has qualified iSCSI Storage Server with iSCSI initiators from leading industry vendors.

View supported iSCSI initiators list

This product is covered by U.S. Patent No. 6,715,098 and other pending applications.