Author: Marty Foltyn

A new revision of the Enterprise Solid State Storage Performance Test Specification (PTS–E 1.1) is now available for public review. The PTS is an industry standard test methodology and test suite for the comparison of SSD performance at the device level. The PTS–E 1.1 updates the PTS–E 1.0 released in 2011 and adds tests with specific types of workloads common in the enterprise environment. The PTS–E 1.1 may be downloaded at http://www.snia.org/publicreview.

“The PTS–Enterprise v1.1 provides both standard testing (IOPS, Throughput, Latency, and Write Saturation) as well as new tests for specific workloads commonly found in Enterprise environments,” said Eden Kim, Chair of the SSS Technical Work Group. “These new tests also allow the user to insert workloads into the new tests while maintaining the industry standard methodology for pre conditioning and steady state determination.”

The new tests target workloads common to OLPT, VOD, VM, and other enterprise applications while paying special attention to the optimization of drives for varying demand intensity, maximum IOPS and minimal response times and latencies.

For more information, visit www.snia.org/forums/sssi

SNIA’s SSSI channel webcast of “How Many IOPS Is Enough?” was a smash success!  Now you can listen to an on demand rebroadcast.

Even though there are lots of SSDs on the market today offering IOPS (I/Os Per Second) performance in the thousands to hundreds of thousands (with indications that future models will offer speeds in the million-IOPS range), and HDDs that support from tens to hundreds of IOPS depending on spindle speed and interface, not every application can use the extreme performance of high-end SSDs, and some may not benefit from high IOPS at all.

Since performance is tied to cost, users can save money if they understand how many IOPS the system really needs.  “How Many IOPS is Enough?” draws from the recent study by Coughlin Associates and Objective Analysis that examined what makes an application require high IOPS and which profiled applications according to their needs.

In the webcast, you will also learn how to take part in an exciting SSSI project – the Workload I/O Capture Program, or WIOCP, a simple tool that captures software applications’ I/O activity by gathering statistics on workloads at the user level (IOPS, MB/s, response times queue depths, etc).  The WIOCP helps users to identify “Hot Spots” where storage performance is creating bottlenecks. SNIA SSSI hopes that users will help the association to collect real-use statistics on workloads by uploading their results to the SNIA website. Details on WIOCP can be found at tinyurl.com/tryWIOCP.

SNIA’s Solid State Storage Initiative (SSSI) recently rolled out its new Workload I/O Capture Program, or WIOCP, a simple tool that captures software applications’ I/O activity by gathering statistics on workloads at the user level (IOPS, MB/s, response times queue depths, etc).  The WIOCP helps users to identify “Hot Spots” where storage performance is creating bottlenecks. SNIA SSSI hopes that users will help the association to collect real-use statistics on workloads by uploading their results to the SNIA website.

How it works
The WIOCP software is a safe and thoroughly-tested tool which runs unobtrusively in the background to constantly capture a large set of SSD and HDD I/O metrics that are useful to both the computer user and to SNIA. Users simply enter the drive letters for those drives for which I/O operations metrics are to be collected. The program does not record anything that might be sensitive, including details of your actual workload (for example, files you’ve accessed.) Results are presented in clear and accessible report formats.

How would the WIOCP help me as a user of computer systems?
Our upcoming white paper gives many reasons why you would want to download and run the WIOCP.  One reason is that empirical file and disk I/O operation performance metrics can be invaluable with regard to theories and claims about disk I/O performance. This is especially so when these metrics reflect the actual file and disk I/O operation activity performed by individual applications/workloads during normal usage. Moreover, such empirical I/O metrics can be instrumental in uncovering/understanding performance “bottlenecks”, determining more precise I/O performance requirements, better matching disk storage purchases to the particular workload usage/needs, and designing/optimizing various disk storage solutions.

How can I help this project?
by downloading and running the WIOCP you help us collect I/O metrics, which can reveal insights into the particular ways that applications actually perform and experience I/O operation activity in “real-life” use. And using this information,  SNIA member companies will be able to improve the performance of their solid state storage solution, including SSDs and flash storage arrays. Help SNIA get started on this project by clicking http://www.hyperIO.com/hIOmon/hIOmonSSSIworkloadIOcaptureProgram.htm and using the “Download Key Code” enter SSSI52kd9A8Z. The WIOCP tool will be delivered to your system with a unique digital signature. The tool only takes a few minutes to download and initialize, after which you can return to the task at hand!

If you have any questions or comments, please contact: SSSI_TechDev-Chair@SNIA.org

January 29th’s Summit on Non-Volatile Memory – in San Jose, California as part of the SNIA Winter Symposium – delivers an excellent one-day, comprehensive deep-dive on all the issues you need to consider about this technology that has changed the ways that storage devices can be used.   Join 150 of your colleagues with products, strategies, or just an interest in NVM who have already signed up for this complimentary event.  Speakers from companies leading the way in NVM will offer critical insights into NVM and the future of computing in an exciting day-long agenda:

• Keynotes from Mark Peters, Senior Analyst, ESG on the Storage Industry Landscape and David Alan Grier, President, The Computer Society on The Future of Computing with NVM Inflection Point
• Industry Analyst Perspectives from Jeff Janukowicz, Research Director, IDC
• Presentations from:
  • Andy Rudoff, Senior Software Engineer, Intel on the problems being solved
  • Ric Wheeler, Manager, Software Engineering, Red Hat on Linux and NVM
  • Dr. Garret Swart, Database Architect, Oracle on killer apps benefiting from this new architecture
  • Jim Pinkerton, Partner Architect, Microsoft  on design considerations when implementing NVM
  • Steven Peters, Principal Engineer, LSI  on what’s nice to have in this new stack
  • Danny Cobb, CTO, EMC on the workings of subsystem speeds and feeds
  • Kaladhar Vorguranti, Technical Director, NetApp on tools for performance modeling and measuring

Remember, this Summit is COMPLIMENTARY to attend but you must register to guarantee your seat at www.snia.org/nvmsummit-reg.   See you there!

Join the SSSI at the Storage Visions Conference, January 6-7,2013 at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, NV.  With a theme of Petabytes are the new Terabytes, the 2013 conference will explore the convergent needs of digital storage to support cloud content distribution and sharing, user- generated content capture and use, and professional media and entertainment applications.

The SSSI booth is #6 on the Exhibit floor, and will showcase a PCIe SSD display of drives from SSSI members BitMicro, Fusion-io, IDT, Marvell, Micron, STEC, and Virident, and a live demonstration by Fusion-io.  The latest information gathered by the WIOCP Project will be presented.  Featured SSSI member speakers at Storage Visions include Jim Handy of Objective Analysis, who will examine how new storage developments are driving new storage systems with panelists Jim Pappas of Intel, Paul Wassenberg of Marvell, Mike Fitzpatrick of Toshiba, Paul Luse of Intel, and Sumit Puri of LSI; and Jim Pappas of Intel, who will moderate a panel on new frontiers in storage software with SSSI member panelists Walt Hubis of Fusion-io, Doug Voigt of HP, and Bob Beauchamp of EMC.

Follow our activities on Twitter at

twitter.com/#!/sniasolidstate

The media buzz continues on solid state storage, now a prominent feature of storage, virtualization, and developer discussions.  Reaching the ears of business is SSSI’s Marketing Committee Chair Tom Coughlin, who has a blog on Forbes.  Latest posts discuss  a new age of digital storage interfaces, many based on the PCIe computer interface, that can take advantage of the higher data rates that NAND flash-based digital storage can provide.

Solid State Storage was featured at recent storage conferences including SNIA’s Storage Developer Conference and SNW (Storage Networking World) US and Europe.  At SNW US, Lucas Mearian of Computerworld and Jim Pappas, SNIA Board and SSSI member, discussed a sea change in the non-volatile memory (NVM) market over the next five years, with more dense and reliable technologies challenging dominant NAND flash memory now used in solid-state drives (SSD) and embedded in mobile products.  Mearian’s article is here.

At Powering the Cloud – SNW Europe, Randy Kerns of the SNIA member Evaluator Group led a spotlight session on Solid State Storage and Its Impact on the Environment, with presentations from SSSI members Kim Gardner of STEC and David Dale of NetApp.

SNIA and the Solid State Storage Initiative urge you to get involved in fast-developing SSSI activities in PCIe and NVM.  Visit our website at http://www.snia.org/forums/sssi or email asksssi@snia.org

SNIA is proud to participate at the Intel Developers Forum this week at Moscone West In San Francisco.  Our booth in the NVM Express Community area focuses on SNIA and SSSI work in non volatile memory.

Attendees are very interested in the newly launched SNIA NVM Programming Technical Work Group (NVMp TWG).

The purpose of the NVMp TWG is to create specifications which will provide guidance to operating system, device driver, and application developers to be able to accelerate the availability of hardware-enabling Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) software.  A concrete example is database software which can use NVM to assure the database is available quickly after a system reboot.

The TWG will develop two specifications. The first is for NVM Extensions between OS Components. The work on a first version is starting now with an expected completion of about Q4’12.  The second specification is for NVM Application Extensions; with the first version expected Q2’13.

The Solid State Storage Initiative (SSSI) will  provide marketing and outreach support to the NVMp TWG, extending its educational mission.

The NVMp TWG is supported by EMC, Fusion-io, HP, Intel (also chairs the TWG), LSI, NetApp, Oracle, Samsung, SanDisk, Seagate, Symantec, Toshiba, Virident, and VMware.  More companies are in the process of joining SNIA and the SSSI.

If you are interested in the NVMp TWG, and/or want more information on SSSI activities  visit www.snia.org/forums/sssi

SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative (SSSI) enjoyed a lively following at the recent Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara CA.

PCIe SSD was a favorite topic.  A Tuesday Chat with the Experts found SSSI members Eden Kim (PCIe Flash), Paul Wassenberg (SATA Express), and Jim Pappas (Solid State Storage Standards) speaking to full tables.  A SSSI-sponsored PCIe SSD panel on Thursday moderated by Eden Kim of Calypso Systems included talks on PCIe performance testing, SATA Express, PCIe 2.5 form factor, SCSI Express, and PCIe and Storage Class Memory.  The SSSI booth was packed with individuals and companies eager to learn more about our PCIe SSD, NVM programming, and workload I/O capture program activities.

Solid state technology dominated sessions and the show floor.  SSSI Marketing Chair Tom Coughlin of Coughlin Associates gives his technology perspective of the show in his Storage Bytes blog for Forbes at http://blogs.forbes.com/tomcoughlin/.  Check it out and let us know your thoughts!

With opening day of the Del Mar races in my home town on Wednesday, it seems only fitting to note that the SSSI PCIe SSD taskforce is rounding the last turn in its informational call schedule.

If you have a stake in this fast growing technology area, you won’t want to miss the final two calls on July 16 and July 30 at 7:00 pm ET/4:00 PM PT.

The July 16 call will feature a talk by Narinder Lall of eASIC on PCIe Controllers and a presentation by Walt Hubis of the SNIA Security Technical Work Group on Security and Removable NVRAM PCIe Storage.

Join the teleconference at 1-866-439-4480 passcode 25478081# and the webex at snia.webex.com meeting id 797-289-257 passcode pcie2012.

Finally, if you’ve missed any calls to this point, catch up by visiting http://snia.org/forums/sssi/pcie.

See you at the races!