This class is a mix of lectures and labs with the goal of providing students with a first-hand familiarity with iSCSI storage technologies. The lectures start with a review of the fundamental concepts of storage networking and the architectures of SAN solutions, and then quickly move into an in-depth description of iSCSI and the various roles it can play.

The labs are designed to give students a chance to configure iSCSI connections of various types and to explore various iSCSI storage devices and interfaces. The lab is equipped with switches, TOEs (TNICs), SNICs, disk arrays, iSCSI routers, NAS Filers, Fibre Channel equipment, storage virtualization technology, tape libraries, virtual tape servers, and server hardware running Windows, Linux, and Solaris.

Topics Covered

• Essentials of storage networking
• Files, blocks, file systems, metadata, SAN, and NAS.
• Overview of iSCSI and its relationship to SCSI and Fibre Channel
• SAN and disk system architectures
• iSCSI and proprietary Ethernet host connections
• iSCSI storage devices
• Techniques for integrating iSCSI with Fibre Channel, SCSI , and ATA storage
• Enhancing tape backup with iSCSI SAN connections
• Continuous backup using iSCSI

Primary Lab Exercises

• Configuring host connections with NICs, TNICs, and SNICs
• Simple iSCSI storage devices
• iSCSI integrated with NAS
• iSCSI storage pooling
• iSCSI bridged to Fibre Channel and SCSI with virtualization
• Connecting tape devices to iSCSI SANs

Intended Audience
The class assumes a basic familiarity with servers, storage devices, and networking. No prior SAN experience is assumed; however, the labs will still be challenging for those with hands-on SAN experience. Many of the lab exercises are performed on the Windows platform, so familiarity with Windows is very helpful. Solaris and Linux systems are provided for those who wish to work with these platforms.

Please contact us if you are interested in attending one of our iSCSI training classes.