In all my playing with OpenSolaris and iSCSI I decided to give iSCSI using Linux and OS X another shot. Turns out the GlobalSAN iSCSI client for OS X, available for free from Studio Network Solutions, works much better than it did just a couple of months ago. Lock ups, so far, seem to be a thing of the past.
To make use of it I decided to pull the drive out of my external case and put it in my Linux system. I then exported it via the iSCSI Enterprise Target software (available here) already installed on the system. After installing the latest GlobalSAN iSCSI initiator software (available here)on my mini I was able to connect to the iSCSI Lun on my Linux machine.
So far I’m finding that I’m able to get nearly full speed out of the disk and am able to copy large files to the drive at around 44MB/s.
Update: One caveat I have found is it takes a lot longer for the Mac to enter sleep if it is connected to the iSCSI share.
SNS has a free initiator it is true, it is still trying to find it’s place… if you want a better initiator that includes support, SNS won’t help you… I use the OS X initator from Atto, Xtend SAN and it works quite well, I don’t see the sleep mode issue you mention, but my setup may be different.
Thanks for the tip. Free is a big bonus for me because I”m just using it at home. If it were in the work place I’d definitely consider a good initiator. Shame it isn’t built in or available free from Apple though.