6.5.1

Table Of Contents
n
naming-authority is the reverse syntax of the Internet domain name of the naming authority. For
example, the iscsi.vmware.com naming authority can have the iSCSI qualified name form of iqn.
1998-01.com.vmware.iscsi. The name indicates that the vmware.com domain name was
registered in January of 1998, and iscsi is a subdomain, maintained by vmware.com.
n
unique name is any name you want to use, for example, the name of your host. The naming authority
must make sure that any names assigned following the colon are unique, such as:
n
iqn.1998-01.com.vmware.iscsi:name1
n
iqn.1998-01.com.vmware.iscsi:name2
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iqn.1998-01.com.vmware.iscsi:name999
Enterprise Unique Identifier Format
The Enterprise Unique Identifier (EUI) format takes the form eui.16_hex_digits.
For example, eui.0123456789ABCDEF.
The 16-hexadecimal digits are text representations of a 64-bit number of an IEEE EUI (extended unique
identifier) format. The top 24 bits are a company ID that IEEE registers with a particular company. The
remaining 40 bits are assigned by the entity holding that company ID and must be unique.
iSCSI Initiators
To access iSCSI targets, your host uses iSCSI initiators. The initiators transport SCSI requests and
responses, encapsulated into the iSCSI protocol, between the host and the iSCSI target.
Your host supports different types of initiators.
For information on configuring and using iSCSI adapters, see Chapter 11 Configuring iSCSI Adapters and
Storage.
Software iSCSI Adapter
A software iSCSI adapter is a VMware code built into the VMkernel. Using the software iSCSI adapter,
your host can connect to the iSCSI storage device through standard network adapters. The software
iSCSI adapter handles iSCSI processing while communicating with the network adapter. With the
software iSCSI adapter, you can use iSCSI technology without purchasing specialized hardware.
Hardware iSCSI Adapter
A hardware iSCSI adapter is a third-party adapter that offloads iSCSI and network processing from your
host. Hardware iSCSI adapters are divided into categories.
Dependent Hardware
iSCSI Adapter
Depends on VMware networking, and iSCSI configuration and
management interfaces provided by VMware.
vSphere Storage
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