Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 ISCSI Target vs. Starwind

[jfiess]

Hello - gotta ask this. If one already has Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 with it's ISCSI target capability (via MS purchase of Stringbean), would there be any benefits to be gained by using Starwind instead of the MS functionality? I understand Starwind can go on any box should you want multiple target machines (might be less expensive), whereas the MS built in functionality would require all boxes to be WSS R2 (might be more expensive).
Thanks

[Val (staff)]

Hi,

You are right that StarWind can work on any Windows version begining from Win 2000 SP4 up to the recent versions.
So you need not purchase expensive Windows Server licenses to build your storage server.

[jfiess]

Thanks. Clear on that. But if one had a Windows Storage Server 2003 R2. Should they use its iSCSI target functionality?

FYI - I did speak with a storage vendor today that said their testing had uncovered a bug in the Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 iSCSI functionality and they were in touch with MS about it. They alleged that at the moment Dell was not supporting iSCSI targets on their MS based storage products. I was not able to confirm this via web research, though I did see some posts of folks having issues with the 64 bit Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 because apparently the iSCSI target is implemented in an add on that was only available for 32 bit.
jfiess

[Val (staff)]

jfiess,
It's up to the customers how to use their storage server.
If the pre-installed iSCSI target software works bad, nothing prevents you from trying to use StarWind instead of it.

We provide 2 versions of StarWind: x86 (that also can work on Win64) and the native x64 version that can work on WIndows 2003 Server for AMD64 and XP SP2 amd64.
Both evaluation versions are available for download from our web site.
So it's easy to download them and try with your storage server.

[rasha]

i have both version it work perfectly

[anton (staff)]

Good to hear about that

i have both version it work perfectly