A guide to iSCSI target software for Windows

By
Joachim Nässlander
Published: 17 June 2009 7:57 AM CESTPosted in: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, iscsiTags: , ,

UPDATE: See http://www.nullsession.com/2009/08/06/iscsi-target-software-feature-comparison/ for a feature sheet of Windows iSCSI target software.

After adding a new statistics tool to this site, I’ve realized that 57% of the search words for my visitors are iSCSI-related. Most people seem to search for Microsofts iSCSI target software. This can be aquired either if you buy something like HP’s Storage Server or if you subscribe to MSDN / Technet Plus (and in that case you can’t put it in production, but you could test it).

So what’s available for a Windows platform except for Microsofts iscsi target software?

There are four other “big” targets available, these are:


Starwind from Rocket Division


iSCSI Cake from iscsicake.com

iStorage Server from
Kernsafe Technology


MySan from Nimbus Data


You can read more about Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2008 over at Microsoft.com and more about Microsoft iSCSI Target Software over at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/storage/iscsifaq.mspx

Update: According to Jose Barretos blog Windows Storage Server 2008 is available to MSDN and Technet Plus subscribers.

Installation

In the video you can see how easy it is to install and configure each software listen, except for MySan which won’t install on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Storage Server 2008 which you’ll need to install from scratch since Microsoft won’t support installing the target software on any other edition than Storage Server.

If you’d ask me which software to choose I’d recommend Starwind from Rocket Division, unless you have the money to invest in a Windows Storage Server solution. The new features in Windows Storage Server 2008 really makes it worth the money if we base this on the assumption that you won’t invest in a full SAN solution.

Linux is not my platform, but there are several targets available for Linux. I haven’t tested any of them, there are other sites that focus on that.
http://iscsitarget.sourceforge.net/
http://www.zdnetasia.com/techguide/storage/0,39045058,39291568,00.htm
http://www3.amherst.edu/~swplotner/iscsitarget/#software
http://www.freenas.org/
Update: http://www.openfiler.com

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About the Author

I have 10+ years experience of the IT-industry. The last years I've been heavily involved in Microsofts Technology Adoption Programs for Windows Vista, "Longhorn", Hyper-V, "Stirling", SCVMM and Windows Server 2008 R2. I'm was awarded an MVP in File Systems & Storage 2008, MVP in Cluster 2009, member of Microsoft Extended Experts Team and have been speaking at numerous events such as TechEd and TechDays.