[dba-Tech] iSCSI Openfiler SAN

Hi all

Are any of you using iSCSI to attach network storage?

I happened to locate this free server (iSCSI Target) which offers both SMB/CIFS (Windows share), iSCSI Target server, NFS, FTP, UPS, HTTP/WebDAV, LDAP, and rsync services, all controlled from a nice web interface:

  http://www.openfiler.com/

It seems to be well beyond the "normal" NAS appliances but is free to download and use from a single ISO install file or as ready-made machines for VMware  - both in 32- and 64-bit. It runs on a rPath locked down Linux.

Documentation is sparse (manual is €40 to buy) but I found this beginner's guide:

http://www.petri.co.il/iscsi-san-vmware-esx.htm 
http://www.petri.co.il/use-openfiler-as-free-vmware-esx-san-server.htm 
http://www.petri.co.il/connect-vmware-esx-server-iscsi-san-openfiler.htm 

and this guide, How to connect your Windows 2008 Server & Vista PC to your iSCSI SAN:

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Connect-Windows-Server-2008-Windows-Vista-iSCSI-Server.html 

All very nice, but big question is of course performance? It could be fine to set up a box with an array of 2 TB drives and off we go. But?
Would I need 10 Gbit NICs and switches? These are still quite expensive.