Author: Alex McDonald

Programming Frameworks Q&A

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Last month, the SNIA Networking Storage Forum made sense of the “wild west” of programming frameworks, covering xPUs, GPUs and computational storage devices at our live webcast, “You’ve Been Framed! An Overview of xPU, GPU & Computational Storage Programming Frameworks.” It was an excellent overview of what’s happening in this space.

There was a lot to digest, so our stellar panel of experts has taken the time to answer the questions from our live audience in this blog.

Q. Why is it important to have open-source programming frameworks?

A. Open-source frameworks enable community support and partnerships beyond what proprietary frameworks support. In many cases they allow ISVs and end users to write one integration that works with multiple vendors.

Q. Will different accelerators require different frameworks or can one framework eventually cover them all?

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You’ve Been Framed! An Overview of Programming Frameworks

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With the emergence of GPUs, xPUs (DPU, IPU, FAC, NAPU, etc.) and computational storage devices for host offload and accelerated processing, a panoramic wild west of frameworks is emerging, all vying to be one of the preferred programming software stacks that best integrates the application layer with these underlying processing units.

On October 26, 2022, the SNIA Networking Storage Forum will break down what’s happening in the world of frameworks in our live webcast, “You’ve Been Framed! xPU, GPU & Computational Storage Programming Frameworks.”

We’ve convened an impressive group of experts that will provide an overview of programming frameworks that support:

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SmartNICs to xPUs Q&A

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The SNIA Networking Storage Forum kicked off its xPU webcast series last month with “SmartNICs to xPUs – Why is the Use of Accelerators Accelerating?” where SNIA experts defined what xPUs are, explained how they can accelerate offload functions, and cleared up confusion on many other names associated with xPUs such as SmartNIC, DPU, IPU, APU, NAPU. The webcast was highly-rated by our audience and already has more than 1,300 views. If you missed it, you can watch it on-demand and download a copy of the presentation slides at the SNIA Educational Library.

The live audience asked some interesting questions and here are answers from our presenters.

Q. How can we have redundancy on an xPU?

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Storage Implications of Doing More at the Edge

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In our SNIA Networking Storage Forum webcast series, “Storage Life on the Edge” we’ve been examining the many ways the edge is impacting how data is processed, analyzed and stored. I encourage you to check out the sessions we’ve done to date:

On July 12, 2022, we continue the series with “Storage Life on the Edge: Accelerated Performance Strategies” where our SNIA experts will discuss the need for faster computing, access to storage, and movement of data at the edge as well as between the edge and the data center, covering:

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SmartNICs to xPUs – Why is the Use of Accelerators Accelerating?

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As applications continue to increase in complexity and users demand more from their workloads, there is a trend to again deploy dedicated accelerator chips to assist by offloading work from the main CPU.  These new accelerators (xPUs) have multiple names such as SmartNIC (Smart Network Interface Card), DPU, IPU, APU, NAPU. How are these different than GPU, TPU and the venerable CPU? xPUs can accelerate and offload functions including math, networking, storage functions, compression, cryptography, security and management.

It’s a topic that the SNIA Networking Storage Forum will spotlight in our 3-part xPU webcast series. The first webcast on May 19, 2022 “SmartNICs to xPUs – Why is the Use of Accelerators Accelerating?” will cover key topics about, and clarify questions surrounding, xPUs, including…

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Storage Technologies & Practices Ripe for Refresh – Part 2

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So much of what we discuss in SNIA is the latest emerging technologies in storage. While it’s good to know all about the latest and greatest technologies, it’s also important to understand those technologies being sunsetted. In this SNIA Networking Storage Forum (NSF) webcast series “Storage Technologies & Practices Ripe for Refresh” we cover technologies that are at (or close to) being past their useful life.

On June 22, 2021, we’ll host the second installment of this series, Storage Technologies & Practices Ripe for Refresh – Part 2 where we’ll discuss obsolete hardware, protocols, interfaces and other aspects of storage.

We’ll offer advice on how to replace these older technologies in production environments as well as why these changes are recommended. We’ll also cover protocols that you should consider removing from your networks, either older versions of protocols where only newer versions should be used, or protocols that have been supplanted by superior options and should be discontinued entirely.

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A Q&A on NVMe-oF Performance Hero Numbers

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Last month, the SNIA Networking Storage Forum (NSF) hosted a live webcast “NVMe-oF: Looking Beyond Performance Hero Numbers.”It was extremely popular, in fact it has been viewed almost 800 times in just two weeks! If you missed it, it’s available on-demand, along with the presentation slides at the SNIA Educational Library. Our audience asked several great questions during the live event and our expert presenters, Erik Smith, Rob Davis and Nishant Lodha have kindly answered them all here.

Q. There are initiators for Linux but not for Windows? What are my options to connect NVMe-oF to Windows Server?

A. Correct. For many of the benchmarks, a standard Linux based initiator was used as it provided a consistent platform on which several of the compared NVMe Fabrics are supported/available.

Regarding what Fabrics are available on Microsoft Windows, it is best to check with your Microsoft representative for the most current information. As far as we are aware, Microsoft does not natively support NVMe-oF, but there are 3rd party Windows drivers available from other vendors, just search the web for “Windows NVMe-oF Initiator”.

In addition, some SmartNICs/DPU/Programmable NICs have the ability to terminate NVMe-oF and present remote NVMe devices as local, such options can be considered for your Windows deployment.

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Data Deduplication FAQ

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The SNIA Networking Storage Forum (NSF) recently took on the topics surrounding data reduction with a 3-part webcast series that covered Data Reduction Basics, Data Compression and Data Deduplication. If you missed any of them, they are all available on-demand.

In Not Again! Data Deduplication for Storage Systems” our SNIA experts discussed how to reduce the number of copies of data that get stored, mirrored, or backed up. Attendees asked some interesting questions during the live event and here are answers to them all.

Q. Why do we use the term rehydration for deduplication?  I believe the use of the term rehydration when associated with deduplication is misleading. Rehydration is the activity of bringing something back to its original content/size as in compression. With deduplication the action is more aligned with a scatter/gather I/O profile and this does not require rehydration.

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Securing Data in Transit

Questions on Securing Data in Transit Answered

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Data in transit provides a large attack surface for bad actors. Keeping data secure from threats and compromise while it’s being transmitted was the topic at our live SNIA Networking Storage Forum (NSF) webcast, Securing Data in Transit. Our presenters, Claudio DeSanti, Ariel Kit, Cesar Obediente, and Brandon Hoff did an excellent job explaining how to mitigate risks.

We had several questions during the live event. Our panel of speakers have been kind enough to answer them here.

Q. Could we control the most important point – identity, that is, the permission of every data transportation must have an identity label, so that we can control anomalies and misbehaviors easily?

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How Can You Keep Data in Transit Secure?

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It’s well known that data is often considered less secure while in motion, particularly across public networks, and attackers are finding increasingly innovative ways to snoop on and compromise data in flight. But risks can be mitigated with foresight and planning. So how do you adequately protect data in transit? It’s the next topic the SNIA Networking Storage Forum (NSF) will tackle as part of our Storage Networking Security Webcast Series.  Join us October 28, 2020 for our live webcast Securing Data in Transit.

In this webcast, we’ll cover what the threats are to your data as it’s transmitted, how attackers can interfere with data along its journey, and methods of putting effective protection measures in place for data in transit. We’ll discuss: 

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