file i/o or block i/o

[jvandenbroek]

But using File I/O with plenty of RAM and fast enough CPU (Xeon QC) should benefit from the filesystem caching to improve read speed? So I don't understand how Block I/O would be faster than File I/O in a virtualized environment like ESX or XenServer? We are currently building two systems (one failover) with 5 SAS 15k and 5 SATA disks, of which both arrays will be an iSCSI target for XenServer hosts. Until now, we were convinced File I/O is the way to go. Could you explain a little bit more what new insights you have on this, since before File I/O was recommended?

Thank you.

[To-M]

This was because in the past with DSS V5 we had IET for the Target solution and now we use for the default SCST and in the next release the new version of SCST will be out.

http://www.kb.open-e.com/File-IO-Or-Block-IO_342.html