Dell PowerVault NX1950 - Manual (Page 14)

14 Deployment Guide
Microsoft iSCSI Software Target
Microsoft iSCSI Software Target is used for creating and managing iSCSI
targets. It can also be used for creating virtual disks for storage and
implementing backup and recovery support using snapshots. For iSCSI
configuration, see the End-to-End Deployment Guide for iSCSI on the Dell
Support website at support.dell.com.
Virtual Disk Storage
The disks that are created using iSCSI software target are virtual disks, which
are files in the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format. Virtual disks provide the
following features:
• Flexible and effective storage
• Dynamically extendable to provide extra capacity on demand
• Efficient storage utilization
• Minimizes the time required to create new disks
• Reduces the down time typically required to install new disks
Snapshots
A snapshot is a point-in-time, read-only copy of an iSCSI virtual disk. Creating
snapshots of iSCSI virtual disks facilitates backup and recovery operations.
Snapshots are used as interim copies of data that have 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.
• Snapshots are useful for fast system recovery of files and volumes, in case
of accidental data deletion by a user, overwritten data, or data corruption
resulting from a malicious program.
• Snapshots can be mounted locally or exported to facilitate backup and
recovery operations.