The QLA4050C iSCSI HBA provides connectivity to SANs over Ethernet and TCP/IP network infrastructures (switches, routers, and VPN appliances). Using a widely deployed and familiar networking technology, iSCSI can lower the total cost of ownership to better manage and support storage networking. By offloading the iSCSI and TCP/IP protocol to the adapter, the QLA4050C eliminates the processing, interrupts, and bus accesses required to support protocols in host software. The QLA4050C virtually eliminates the host CPU system processing required for iSCSI and TCP/IP, delivering the equivalent initialization and host processing performance of direct attach storage (DAS) and Fiber Channel (FC) SANs. Point-and-click installation and configuration wizards simplify the HBA setup process. Storage administrators can quickly deploy HBAs across a SAN using standard HBA management tools and device utilities. The QLA4050C is also fully compatible with industry standard application programming interfaces (APIs), thereby allowing administrators to manage QLogic HBAs using third-party software applications. By offloading the iSCSI protocol, the QLA4050C uses the existing storage interface of the operating system. Using a familiar storage interface allows the QLA4050C to support proven LUN and target level fail-over functionality, storage SAN boot, and existing SAN management and application software.