iSCSI – Internet Small Computer Systems Interface
(iSCSI) enables the SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface) protocol to be carried over a TCP/IP based network. SCSI is simply a block-based set of commands that connects computing devices to networked storages. The computing devices in this case are referred to as “iSCSI Initiators” (e.g. a host or a server) whereas the storage devices are referred to as “iSCSI Targets” ( e.g. SAN, NAS, Tape, SSD, HDD, etc. ). The host may contain one or more initiators that attach to an IP network to initiate requests to and receive responses from an iSCSI target. Each initiator and target are given a unique iSCSI name such as an iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) or an Extended-Unique Identifier (EUI).
To transport SCSI commands over the IP network, an iSCSI driver must be installed on the iSCSI host and target. The driver is used to send iSCSI commands and responses through a network interface controller (NIC).
iSCSI makes it possible for enterprise IT admins to better utilize shared storage by allowing hosts/severs to store data to remote networked storages (Storage Virtualization).
