ATTO has been developing bridge solutions for several years and is well known for its fibre channel (FC) to SCSI bridge solutions. Its latest product, the 2500C, enables a direct bridge between Gigabit Ethernet and SCSI devices. Using intelligent bridging architecture, the ATTO bridge enables you to connect the latest Ethernet technology with existing SCSI products or create a fast SCSI-based storage area network (SAN), directly addressable from your Ethernet using IP (Internet Protocol) or NDMP (Network Data Managing Protocol). A lot of acronyms, but it's a cunning solution.

The iPBridge 2500C is designed to be used as an embedded form-factor bridge and to work in multiple applications. The 4U cPCI form factor of the iPBridge 2500C is the same as other ATTO products and designed to fit into the standard 19-inch rack cases, compatible with most industry rack products. This form factor standard enables OEMs to swap out interfaces depending on their specific requirements.

The bridge uses the iSCSI (Internet SCSI) protocol for IP-based SANs. This enables networks to maintain existing Ethernet infrastructures and integrate extra storage to the existing IP network. iSCSI allows you to use existing SCSI commands over a TCP/IP protocol and SCSI devices can be set up on an IP SAN as if they were direct-attached devices. NDMP compatibility is included in the bridge and is the standard protocol for network backup in a Network Attached Storage (NAS) environment. This permits centralised backup over an Ethernet network, as tape libraries and disk arrays become "network" attached devices when using file-level backups.

The embedded SCSI Ultra160 controller has dual channels and so will support up to thirty attached SCSI devices. One channel could be used to connect existing SCSI equipment and the second to expand your storage capacity with an array of SCSI hard drives, producing your own NAS environment. This would have the benefit of making existing SCSI equipment available for all your network users and produce a considerable ROI (Return on Investment) while still giving you a degree of future-proofing over new technological developments. A serial port is also included for terminal management of the bridge but the Internet-based utility is probably the simplest way to set it up; just browse to its own IP address and drop into the management software.

The basic unit is available in a desktop box (single unit height) and includes fittings for 19-inch rack mounting. If you're planning to expand your storage requirements then it may be worth moving over to a rack system. These are available in quite small units and would be ideal for an Ethernet bridge, router and an array of storage drives - nice and secure with all those cables tucked well out of sight.

Using an Ethernet to SCSI bridge is a cost-effective way of expanding your existing storage capacity, giving you iSCSI addressing to your own SAN. Backward compatibility with existing SCSI devices means that a bridge can be installed with minimum disruption to your existing infrastructure and minimal downtime. The ATTO iPBridge 2500C is ideally suited to the SME or larger user seeking to expand storage requirements with minimal disruption and make existing SCSI equipment accessible over their network.