iStorage Server supports creating a iSCSI SAN for VMware ESX and VMware ESXi.

VMware ESX and VMware ESXi are “bare-metal” hypervisors, meaning they install directly on top of the physical server and partition it into multiple virtual machines that can run simultaneously, sharing the physical resources of the underlying server. Each virtual machine represents a complete system, with processors, memory, networking, storage and BIOS, and can run an unmodified operating system and applications.

Combing iStorage Server with VMware ESX Server will expand the application scope of your virtual server, thereby enabling WINDOWS server to expand the storage of your virtualized server. It also allows you to directly use the storage devices of the existing Windows server for VMware ESX Server. With IP SAN solution provided by iStorage Server, you may set up operating system, install application and server software, as well as store data required by your virtual machines.

If you want to learn more about iStorage Server iSCSI SAN technology for VMWare ESX / ESXi Server, and how to use it, please refer to this White Paper.

You can download Trial version of iStorage Server here.

iStorage Server supports High-Availability SAN for Windows Server 2003 and 2008

High availability is the implementation of technology so that if a component fails, another can take over for it. By using highly available platforms, the downtime for a system can be reduced, and, in many cases, it can be reduced to a short enough time that the users of the system do not see the failure.

HA clusters are often used for critical databases, file sharing on a network, business applications, and customer services such as electronic commerce websites.

HA cluster implementations attempt to build redundancy into a cluster to eliminate single points of failure, including multiple network connections and data storage which is multiply connected via Storage area networks.

If you want to know more how to set up and configure iStorage Server for High-Availability SAN, please refer to those White Papers:

Windows Server 2003

Windows Server 2008

You can download Trial version of iStorage Server here.

iStorage Server supports High-Availability iSCSI SAN for Windows Server 2008 & Hyper-V Clustering

iSCSI,  an Internet Protocol (IP)-based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. By carrying SCSI commands over IP networks, iSCSI is used to facilitate data transfers over intranets and to manage storage over long distances. iSCSI can be used to transmit data over local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), or the Internet and can enable location-independent data storage and retrieval.  It is a popular Storage Area Network (SAN) protocol, allowing organizations to consolidate storage into data center storage arrays while providing hosts (such as database and web servers) with the illusion of locally-attached disks. Unlike traditional Fibre Channel, which requires special-purpose cabling, iSCSI can be run over long distances using existing network infrastructure.

High-availability clusters (also known as HA Clusters or Failover Clusters) are computer clusters that are implemented primarily for the purpose of providing high availability of services which the cluster provides. They operate by having redundant computers or nodes which are then used to provide service when system components fail. Normally, if a server with a particular application crashes, the application will be unavailable until someone fixes the crashed server. HA clustering remedies this situation by detecting hardware/software faults, and immediately restarting the application on another system without requiring administrative intervention, a process known as Failover. As part of this process, clustering software may configure the node before starting the application on it. For example, appropriate file systems may need to be imported and mounted, network hardware may have to be configured, and some supporting applications may need to be running as well.

The Hyper-V role enables you to create a virtualized server computing environment using a technology that is part of the Windows Server 2008 operating system. This solution is provided through Hyper-V. You can use a virtualized computing environment to improve the efficiency of your computing resources and improve server availability without using as many physical computers as you would need in a failover configuration that uses only physical computers.

Main benefits of Hyper-V are:

• Consolidation of hardware resources
• Ease of administration
• Significant cost savings
• Fault tolerance support through Hyper-V clustering
• Ease of deployment and management

If you want to learn more about iStorage Server support for High-Availability iSCSI SAN and Hyper-V under Windows Server 2008 operating system, please refer to this White Paper.

You can download Trial version of iStorage Server here.

iStorage Server supports clusters under Windows operating systems

High-availability clusters (also known as HA Clusters or Failover Clusters) are computer clusters that are implemented primarily for the purpose of providing high availability of services which the cluster provides. They operate by having redundant computers or nodes which are then used to provide service when system components fail. Normally, if a server with a particular application crashes, the application will be unavailable until someone fixes the crashed server. HA clustering remedies this situation by detecting hardware/software faults, and immediately restarting the application on another system without requiring administrative intervention, a process known as Failover. As part of this process, clustering software may configure the node before starting the application on it. For example, appropriate file systems may need to be imported and mounted, network hardware may have to be configured, and some supporting applications may need to be running as well.

Main benefits of clustering are:

• Reduced single points of failure through Exchange Virtual Server (EVS) failover functionality.
• Ability to perform maintenance and upgrades with limited downtime.
• Ability to easily scale up your cluster to a maximum of seven active EVSs.

If you want to learn more about creating a High-Availability clusters using iStorage Server on Windows operating systems, please refer to this White Paper.

You can download Trial version of iStorage Server here.

iStorage Server supports clusters under Windows operating systems.

iStorage Server supports Internet Protocol Security (IP SEC) architecture

Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) is an architecture defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) RFC 2401. This architecture involves several protocols that perform various functions in the architecture.

A network is not secure until servers can identify the computers communicating with them. IPSec enables secure, trusted communications between IP addresses. The system behind the IP address has an identity that is verified by using an authentication process. The only computers that must be aware of IPSec are the sending and receiving computers. Each computer handles security at its respective end, and assumes that the medium over which the communication takes place is not secure. Any computers that route data between the source and destination computer are not required supporting IPSec.

Main benefits of IPSec are:

• Strong security that can be applied to all traffic crossing the perimeter
• Transparent to applications
• No need to change software on a user or server system
• There is no need to train users on security mechanism
• Secure remote access over the Internet

If you want to learn more about iStorage Server support for IP SEC under Windows operating system, please refer to this White Paper

You can download Trial version of iStorage Server here.

Storage Server has been updated to version 2.20. The main changes are:

1. Inheritable targets design
2. Synchronous replication and Failover cluster SAN.
3. Enhanced Security Feature
4. COW Protection (Virtual Write Access)

You can learn more about the changes here.

KernSafe is now devoted to storage virtualization solutions, such as creating iSCSI targets of hard disks, optical drives, tape devices, printers, etc. Which has a wide range of customers around the world, including corporations and small businesses, educational institutions and personal users, use KernSafe products to improve their efficiency, keep their data security and share data between each other’s etc.