Category: Uncategorized

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!

SSSI’s PCIe SSD Task Force has covered a lot of ground since the inaugural call April 9.  Sixty-five organizations are now participating with 125 members on the email reflector.  The first four calls identified issues, with speakers from the SSSI, Agilent, Calypso, HP, LeCroy, Marvell, Micron, Seagate, Stec, Toshiba, and Virident taking a closer look at standards; discussing a PCIe test hardware RTP refresh; presenting results of a survey on how many IOPS are enough; discussing PCIe test methodology and system integration issues; presenting on 2.5” PCIe form factor; and reviewing SCSI Express, the PCI SIG, and PCIe system and form factor concerns.   All call notes are at http://snia.org/forums/sssi/pcie.

The open meeting roadmap now ramps with calls on the following topics – Big Picture – What Does It All Mean? (June 4); Deployment Strategies/Market Development (June 18); Where Do We Go From Here? (July 2); and Roadmaps and Milestones 2012 (July 16).  All SSSI members are invited to attend – calls are 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm PT and details are at http://snia.org/forums/sssi/pcie.

PCIe SSD Task Force activities will culminate in a PCIe Task Force Face-to-Face Meeting August 20 from 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm at the Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara CA (www.flashmemorysummit.com). Contact SSSI at pciechair@snia.org if you would like to attend.

Membership is complimentary in the PCIe SSD Task Force and all current SSSI members are welcome to participate.   After July, the Task Force will change format to a SSSI Committee and companies not already SSSI members will need to join the SNIA and SSSI to participate. For additional information, or to join, please contact the PCIe Taskforce Chair at pciechair@snia.org.

You have have seen articles about the study by a UCSD researcher that says future of Flash (and NAND Flash-based SSDs)  is bleak: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/021612-ssds-have-a-bleak-future-256255.html?source=NWWNLE_nlt_daily_am_2012-02-20

Well, SSSI member Allyn Malventano of PC Perspectives begs to differ: http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Editorial/NAND-Flash-Memory-Future-Not-So-Bleak-After-All

Passionate and dedicated volunteers are vital to the success of SNIA and its programs.  Congratulations to the following SNIA Solid State Storage honorees, selected by the entire SNIA member community, who were recognized for their 2011 contributions!

Volunteer of the Year recognizes an individual who, above all others in 2011, consistently stepped up and helped SNIA achieve something new and groundbreaking or who significantly advanced an existing program. Congratulations to Paul Wassenberg of Marvell, SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative Chair, winner of the 2011 SNIA Volunteer of the Year for his leadership in Solid State Storage education and outreach of SSSI activities including the Enterprise and Client Performance Test Specifications and Understanding SSD Performance Project .

The Industry Impact Honoree recognizes an individual who has significantly advanced a cause for SNIA leading to an impact on the industry or the Association. Congratulations to Eden Kim of Calypso Systems, SNIA Solid State Storage Technical Work Group, winner of the 2011 Industry Impact Award for his leadership on development of the Solid State Storage Enterprise and Client Performance Test Specifications.

The Most Significant Impact by a Technical Work Group recognizes the SNIA TWG, which above all others in 2011, had members and efforts which consistently stepped up and helped SNIA achieve something new and groundbreaking or which significantly advanced an existing program. Congratulations to the Solid State Storage Technical Work Group, honored in 2011 for their development of the Solid State Storage Enterprise and Client Performance Test Specifications.

These first weeks of December always fly by with the myriad of tasks and assignments we need to get done before everyone disappears for the
holidays. I won’t add to your load, but I will ask you to put two items on your future to-do list.

SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative just completed two excellent webcasts on Solid State Storage – a topic that is getting the 2012 buzz.    In my involvement with the SNIA SSSI, I was lucky enough to introduce both webcasts, and they really brought some new perspectives to light.

Put them on your holiday viewing list, and you’ll jumpstart your 2012 education just in time to see the SSSI at Storage Visions, January 8-9, 2012 in Las Vegas.

I would suggest beginning with a session that gives a glimpse into how IT professionals look at solid state drives and high speed memory technologies.  Jim Bagley of Storage Strategies NOW gives a quick background of the solid state drive and high-speed memory market and then dives into solid state storage growth and how businesses are adopting and deploying solid state storage for rapid access to transactional data, the cloud and virtual desktop infrastructures.

This session includes the results of an IT Professionals Adoption Survey, co-sponsored by the SNIA and the Solid State Storage Initiative (SSSI), which presents information on the status of solid state drives (SSDs) and high-speed memory, and that’s where it gets interesting.  You’ll want to compare your organization to these answers from 300+ professionals, and see where you stand with SSD adoption, how SSDs have affected the perception of the value of IT as a business enabler, and which storage applications are deploying SSDs.

The webcast is entitled “Solid State Adoption and Use – a Glimpse into the IT Professional Mind” and you can access it here.

Stay tuned for my next blog entry, I’ll give your present #2, and maybe even a bonus gift.

Our next SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative webcast will be Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 2:00 pm ET/11:00 am PT.

Preview and register here:

http://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/663/39135

Join the SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative and Jim Bagley of Storage Strategies NOW for a topical and informative look into solid state storage growth and how businesses are adopting and deploying solid state storage for rapid access to transactional data, the cloud and virtual desktop infrastructures. This session will include the results of an IT Professionals Adoption Survey, co-sponsored by the SNIA and the Solid State Storage Initiative (SSSI), which presents information on the status of solid state drives and high-speed memory.