Sun Microsystems has unveiled open source software that can repurpose anyOpenSolaris-based x86 server into a block-based storage device capable of emulating the physical characteristics of a storage array.
Sun contributed the new code, dubbed Comstar, or common multiprotocol SCSI target, to its OpenSolaris.org open source community last month, says Scott Tracy, director of storage platforms at Sun. He says Comstar promises to cut enterprise storage management costs by allowing developers to quickly add new data transport protocols that can talk to various devices in a network.
Comstar turns OpenSolaris servers into SCSI target storage devices that can be accessed by initiator hosts over a network.