Background - In Microsoft Windows-based organizations, most IT operations typically include a domain controller (Microsoft PDC), messaging server (Microsoft Exchange), database or ERP server (Microsoft SQL Server, Great Plains), file server (Windows Storage Server), and a web/FTP server (Microsoft IIS). Each of these servers often has its own internal hard drives or disk arrays using built-in RAID controllers. Administrators create several volumes on each of these servers for the operating system, applications, and application data. For example, Microsoft Exchange prefers multiple logical volumes, each with its own characteristics, to maximize performance.<

The Case for Unified IP Storage - Business application servers, driven by email, Internet applications, and general file-sharing, can grow very rapidly. More than ever, email is especially critical to daily business operations. As the volume of data that needs to be stored grows, Adding new storage capacity usually involves costly downtime. In addition, local hard drives or internal RAID simply does not provide adequate data protection in the event of a component failure. Traditional external RAID systems cannot meet the uptime requirements that organizations demand of their basic Microsoft business servers.

Problems Solved - Moving to an IP SAN provides the ideal foundation for a scalable and flexible Microsoft Windows storage infrastructure. First, Microsoft has eagerly endorsed iSCSI technology for implementation on Windows. Microsoft provides an iSCSI initiator (or software driver) free of charge on its website. In addition, Nimbus IP storage systems have been certified by Microsoft for use with Windows 2000/2003 and its server applications. The high-performance of the Breeze series makes it ideal for transaction-oriented applications, such as Microsoft SQL Server. In addition, the Breeze series fully supports Windows clusters, allowing users to easily add redundant application servers without duplicating storage. Finally, Nimbus systems also support Microsoft MPIO (multi-pathing) enabling multiple connections between hosts and storage for greater redundancy.