ONLY with Isilon can you create, manage and infinitely scale file-based workflows and unstructured data in a single file system, single volume. But as of today, that’s not all.
I’m very excited to say that this morning at VMworld, Isilon announced we have integrated the iSCSI protocol into OneFS®. Now you can infinitely scale both file- and block-based workflows on your Isilon cluster – at no charge for existing and new customers. iSCSI does require either OneFS 5.5.6 or OneFS 6.0, which are also free (provided you have support).
Isilon’s iSCSI functionality is primarily focused on providing you with a superior set of options for your virtualized environment. We do advocate NFS for its simplicity and ease-of-use in larger virtualized (both server and desktop) environments, but recognize that there are many different workflows – and one size doesn’t fit all. Now you have the choice of deploying Isilon for VMware, Citrix or Microsoft’s HyperV and whether you use NFS or iSCSI, you’ll be able to take advantage of one simple, highly reliable, infinitely scalable storage system. ONLY from Isilon.
Of course, we have certified our implementation of iSCSI with Microsoft and provide the appropriate Volume Shadow Copy Services, which immediately opens up the door to additional consolidation – Exchange, SQL, SharePoint, etc. The key with Isilon’s Unified Scale-Out Storage is just that – it is UNIFIED (file and block) and it is SCALE-OUT. Now you can consolidate your entire infrastructure on one simple, highly reliable, infinitely scalable storage system. Did I mention this is ONLY from Isilon?
I won’t spend any more time waxing on about the amazing capabilities that scale-out brings to the block world, such as N-way multi-path I/O, sustaining up to four simultaneous controller failures, or the ability to move LUNs seamlessly between different price/performance tiers. You’ll just have to believe me when I say that we’ve taken this integration seriously – both by leveraging our core scale-out architecture and OneFS and ensuring our suite of enterprise software applications apply equally to file and block – although I hate to admit it, some things are actually better for block!
You don’t have to take my word for it – iSCSI on Isilon is free – and consolidating on the only unified scale-out storage system is worry-free.
I’m happy to answer any detailed questions on our implementation here or via Twitter (@Isilon_Nick).
