Formal ratification of the iSCSI standard paves the way for greater adoption by storage companies and customers.

A key standards body has given its blessing for a new technology that allows storage area networks to be built using existing Ethernet networking.

Late on Tuesday, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) approved the iSCSI standard. SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) is a widely used standard for connecting hard drives to computers; iSCSI lets that happen over a network connection such as a company Ethernet network or even the Internet. iSCSI holds the promise of letting multiple computers tap into a pool of storage systems.

The major competitor for iSCSI is the existing Fibre Channel protocol, which offers high performance and is well-established in the marketplace, but requires separate networks. By contrast, a key benefit of iSCSI is that it works with existing computer networks. While not widely used today, iSCSI holds the potential to be less expensive and less difficult to use.

Companies have already built iSCSI products based on a draft proposal, but the formal ratification paves the way for greater adoption by storage companies and customers.

"Ratification of the standard means that end users can move forward with solutions with more confidence," said Bryce Mackin, marketing chair of the IP Storage Forum of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) and a product line manager for Adaptec.

The SNIA subgroup finished its final comments on the standard in September. Although some minor changes have been made, none of the modifications should affect compatibility for products that have been built on the draft standard, Mackin said.

IBM and Cisco Systems are among the early backers of iSCSI, but Mackin said he expects a large number of companies to come out with products this year, now that the standard has won final approval. Cisco, for example, has been shipping gear that works with both technologies.

While Fibre Channel is likely to remain the standard for large companies, Mackin said many small and midsized businesses have been reluctant to move to storage area networks because of the costs of setting up and maintaining a separate network. Products using iSCSI should allow those companies to move away from direct-attached storage without the burdens of a separate network infrastructure.

"I see the two technologies being complementary," Mackin said of iSCSI and Fibre Channel.

News.com's Stephen Shankland contributed to this report.

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