To be honest, I am not sure. Napoleon had certainly a sharp mind but I doubt that even his extraordinary intellect could have predicted the need to carry data over a storage network using a specialized transport protocol like iSCSI.However, the IT department of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy, a university that was reportedly founded by Napoleon in 1810, must appreciate iSCSI because they decided to adopt Datacore SANmelody to create a centralized storage network that will cover the needs of students, teachers and administration.Why was Napoleon founding universities in Italy, of all places, in 1810? If you’re like me and forget easily your history lessons Wikipedia can help remembering that Napoleon led the French Army to conquer most of Europe in those years. In fact, he was also King of Italy for some time. Back to our century, it’s interesting to note that the choice of SANmelody by the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa could also have been influenced by a special promotion “buy one, get two” that Magirus, a Datacore VAR, is currently offering on SANmelody and SANsymphony.However, even if we remove the appeal of any special pricing, choosing hardware neutral solutions such a Datacore’s has the undeniable advantage of preserving investments already made for a longer time, which is a non minor feat in cash-strapped academic environments.I’m probably going out on a limb here, but I feel comfortable enough saying that given the scope of his ambitions and the always limited amount of resources available to him, Napoleon would probably have liked a protocol such as iSCSI that maximizes the usefulness of your money and of your investments. Should you hear differently from the Emperor, please let me know.