Multipathing / MPIO

[techfreakz]

Hi there,

I've only just discovered StarPort, so this new territory for me.

I am looking for a suitable alternative to Microsoft iSCSI initiator that will allow me to "multipath" my iSCSI connections, for better performance, on a non-server platform such a Windows XP (32 & 64 bit) and Windows 7. MPIO is only currently supported on Windows Server platforms, which is somewhat disappointing.

Does StarPort support MPIO or something functionally equivalent?

Best regards

TFZ

[anton (staff)]

Yes, StarPort has built-in RAID stack (something close to Veritas Logical Volume Manager Microsoft had licensed to deal with the software RAID sets) but optimized for iSCSI / AoE / FCoE stuff. You can read more about it here:

http://www.starwindsoftware.com/starpor ... ggregation

and here:

http://www.starwindsoftware.com/starpor ... eplication

Key feature is - we can use not multiple pathes to the same target but stripe / mirror different physical targets. Something Microsoft cannot do with their MS iSCSI initiator and MPIO stack.