IT departments want to move from expensive and proprietary storage systems to commodity hardware and open source storage software. In particular there is a trend to move to iSCSI storage arrays that can run on already deployed Ethernet networks and clusters of open source storage servers running OpenSolaris or Linux.

However, while iSCSI helps reduce capital expenditures associated with deploying high-end storage systems or infrastructure such as Fibre Channel, it introduces new management complexity. With an iSCSI storage network, you may now need to manage the iSCSI arrays, ISNS servers, the network, storage server clusters, etc.

MenloWare's storage grid administration was designed to address the complexity of large-scale deployments of iSCSI storage. The MenloWare GUI addresses all the common tasks performed by storage and file system administrators.

The administration tool is accessible anywhere through a Web browser interface. The GUI includes administrative functions for ISNS discovery domains, file systems, ZFS storage pools, iSCSI volume groups, iSCSI volumes, host groups, Active Directory users and groups, and DFS roots and link targets. The GUI leverages dynamic HTML so that options can be shown only when relevant. The interface includes static configuration data, real-time health alerts, capacity trend graphs, and a centralized log browser.

MenloWare combines management of applications, file systems, and storage into a single GUI. However, it may be appropriate to restrict user access to certain functions within the Web application. MenloWare provides user logins using Active Directory or local system authentication. A Web view is then dynamically generated based on the user role. Users don't see administrative actions that they ultimately will not be allowed to execute.

Configuring storage volumes can normally be a complex task. Administrators must create volume group and predict the desired size, then create volumes in that pool, create host groups, and map host groups to the volumes. Also if ISNS target discovery is being used then the iSCSI target needs to be added to the host's ISNS discovery domain.

MenloWare simplifies this whole process by allowing the user to define volume policies which summarize desired properties. The policy can make volume creation as simple as specifying a volume name. MenloWare software can then determine the best volume group, creating one if necessary, add host groups as needed, set host masks, add the target to an ISNS discovery domain, etc.

The GUI can show capacity trends over time for the various types of storage. This can be helpful during provisioning to get an idea of when you will be running out of storage of the desired type (e.g. of a particular RAID level).

It can be difficult to manage all the physical disk in a large storage grid infrastructure. MenloWare tracks a disk's lifecycle from installation to removal and can report status changes.

Disks can be organized by array, by enclosure (tray), or by serial number. Various properties such as firmware version, disk type, and disk size can be shown. Disks can also be chosen by property when configuring volume groups.