Has anyone have experience using Adtran NetVanta 1544 as a iSCSI SAN
switch? Or any Adtran switch in general? Any problems or unexpected
issues?
Thanks!
I've used Adtran ethernet switches. I wouldn't call them feature-rich, but they do seem to work. If possible test thouroughly before putting in production. I've seen some layer 3 issues with them that they quickly fixed in subsequent firmware releases. I was not stress testing them with traffic however.
We use Adtran switches semi-frequently at work and I have a few pain points, but many good things about them.
My biggest complaint is the availability of support if you need something from them. They operate under pseudo standard business hours which can be a deal breaker for some.
Obviously AOS is very similar to IOS in the syntax which is a plus, minor little differences which drive you nuts when you switch back and forth with cisco and Adtran all day, however with some of the more advanced switching functions I find them a little lacking. When we have used these for smaller VMware deployments we traditionally build port channels to the VMware hosts for the data connections, and the port channel load balance methods available are a little lacking.
Past that I don't mind them one bit, and actually push for an Adtran over a low end HP/3Com web managed switch when the customer doesn't want to pony up for Cisco gear. For the price you cant beat the configuration simplicity for the IOS aware people, and the webUI for end users is not that bad. You can't completely mangle the switch config from webUI by mistake anymore which most would consider a bonus...
If you are looking at integrating multiple of these devices and building port channels between them, I would highly recommend manually specifying the spanning tree priority on the device. 6 months from now when you reboot a switch for an AOS upgrade it might come back up and you end up bringing down the entire network. I've now seen the 3 times on production networks now which are pushing the limits of the SMB NetVanta switches imo.
"Show run verbose" will become a close friend 
and make sure you document the crap out of everything you set up
Also make sure you are getting the G2 switches they are about 1000 times better than the G1 switches. You can actually get 2 of these in 1u and either stack them or vrrp them for more seamless failover. Feel free to ping me off list if you have more questions, I can outline some of the deployments we have used them for, issues I have seen on individual cases and where I have seen them work well.
Blake Pfankuch
I have been a big fan of the Adtran gear for years for small businesses and remote offices. We used the NetVanta 1335 Poe - A IPSec capable Layer3 Poe switch with a T1 wic in the back, all crammed into a 1U platform, isn't only hard to find among all vendors, it was cheap and we never had any reliability issues with them in about 20 remote offices.
Adtran to me has never been data center grade, but for an IT guy who wants a familiar command line and reliable "enterprise grade" switch on the cheap, you can't go wrong with Adtran.
I think with a iSCSI SAN you would be just fine. The specs on it look up to par and if their previous performance is telling of their current products, I think asking for a demo unit or picking just one up would be a great choice.
-=Tom