Dell PowerVault DP500 - Manual (Page 7)

Introduction
7
You can download and install the iSNS server from the Microsoft website at
www.microsoft.com on a separate server that does not have Microsoft iSCSI
Initiator or Target installed.
Naming Convention
The term Dell PowerVault 500 refers to the hardware platform.
PowerVault NF500 refers to the configuration of PowerVault 500 storage system
and Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 with SP2 operating system.
The term Dell PowerVault 600 refers to the hardware platform.
PowerVault NF600 refers to the configuration of PowerVault 600 storage
system and Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 with SP2 operating
system.
Features of iSCSI Software Target
Virtual Disk Storage
The disks you create using iSCSI Software Target are iSCSI Virtual Disks,
which are files in the virtual hard disk (VHD) format. These Virtual Disks
offer flexible and effective storage. They are dynamically extendable to
provide extra capacity on demand, enable efficient storage utilization, and
minimize the time required to create new disks and the down time typically
required to install new disks.
Snapshots
To facilitate backup and recovery operations, you can schedule and create
snapshots of iSCSI Virtual Disks. A snapshot is a point-in-time, read-only
copy of an iSCSI Virtual Disk. Snapshots are typically used as interim copies
of data that has been modified since the most recent backup. Snapshots offer
the following advantages:
• Snapshots can be scheduled to be created automatically.
• Snapshots are space-efficient because they are differential copies.
• It is not necessary to close files or stop programs when creating snapshots,
so application servers can continue servicing clients without disruption.
• Each snapshot is typically created in less than one minute, regardless of
the amount of data.