Tag: snia

2013 in Review and the Outlook for 2014 – A SNIA ESF Perspective

Jason Blosil Leave a comment

Technology continues to advance rapidly. Making sense of it all can be a challenge. At the SNIA Ethernet Storage Forum, we focus on storage technologies and solutions enabled by and associated with Ethernet Networks. Last year, we modified the charters of our two Special Interest Groups (SIG) to address topics about file protocols and storage over Ethernet. The File Protocols SIG includes the prior focus on Network File System (NFS) related topics and adds discussions around Server Message Block (SMB / CIFS). We had our first webcast last November on the topic of SMB 3.0 and it was our best attended webcast ever. The Storage over Ethernet SIG focuses on general Ethernet storage topics as well as more information about technologies like FCoE, iSCSI, Data Center Bridging, and virtual networking for storage. I encourage you to check out other articles on these hot topics in this SNIAESF blog to hear from our member experts as well as guest posts from leading analysts.

2013 was a busy year and we are already kickin’ it in 2014. This should be an exciting year in IT. Data storage continues to be a hot sector especially in the areas of All-Flash and Hybrid arrays. This year, we will expect to see new standards coming out of the T11 committee for Fibre Channel and possibly FCoE as well as progress in high speed Ethernet networks. Lower cost network interconnects will facilitate adoption of high speed networks in the small to midsize business segment. And a new conversation around “Software Defined…” should push a lot of ink in trade rags and other news sources. Oh, and don’t forget about the “Internet of Things”, mobile solutions, and all things Cloud.

The ESF will be addressing the impact on Ethernet storage solutions from these hot technologies. Next month, on February 18th, experts from the ESF, along with industry analysts from Dell’Oro Group will speak to the benefits and best practices of deploying FCoE and iSCSI storage protocols. This presentation “Use Cases for iSCSI and Fibre Channel: Where Each Makes Sense” will be part of an upcoming BrightTalk Summit on Storage Networking. I encourage you to register for this session. Additionally, we will be publishing a couple of white papers on file-based storage and a review of FCoE and iSCSI in storage applications.

Finally, SNIA will be kicking off its first year of the new user conference, Data Storage Innovation Conference. This will be one of the few storage focused user conferences in the market and should be quite interesting.

We’re excited about our growing membership and our plans for 2014. Our goal is to advance  application of innovative technologies and we encourage you to send us mail or comment below with topics that are of interest to you.

Here’s to an exciting 2014!

Ethernet Storage Forum – 2012 Year in Review and What to Expect in 2013

Jason Blosil Leave a comment

As we come to a close of the year 2012, I want to share some of our successes and briefly highlight some new changes for 2013. Calendar year 2012 has been eventful and the SNIA-ESF has been busy. Here are some of our accomplishments:

  • 10GbE – With virtualization and network convergence, as well as the general availability of LOM and 10GBASE-T cabling, we saw this is a “breakout year” for 10GbE. In July, we published a comprehensive white paper titled “10GbE Comes of Age.” We then followed up with a Webcast “10GbE – Key Trends, Predictions and Drivers.” We ran this live once in the U.S. and once in the U.K. and combined, the Webcast has been viewed by over 400 people!
  • NFS – has also been a hot topic. In June we published a white paper “An Overview of NFSv4″ highlighting the many improved features NFSv4 has over NFSv3. A Webcast to help users upgrade, “NFSv4 – Plan for a Smooth Migration,” has also been well received with over 150 viewers to date.   A 4-part Webcast series on NFS is now planned. We kicked the series off last month with “Reasons to Start Working with NFSv4 Now” and will continue on this topic during the early part of 2013. Our next NFS Webcast will be “Advances in NFS – NFSv4.1 and pNFS.” You can register for that here.
  • Flash – The availability of solid state devices based on NAND flash is changing the performance efficiencies of storage. Our September Webcast “Flash – Plan for the Disruption” discusses how Flash is driving the need for 10GbE and has already been viewed by more than 150 people.

We have also added to expand membership and welcome new membership from Tonian and LSI to the ESF. We expect with this new charter to see an increase in membership participation as we drive incremental value and establish ourselves as a leadership voice for Ethernet Storage.

As we move into 2013, we expect two hot trends to continue – the broader use of file protocols in datacenter applications, and the continued push toward datacenter consolidation with the use of Ethernet as a storage network. In order to better address these two trends, we have modified our charter for 2013. Our NFS SIG will be renamed the File Protocol SIG and will focus on promoting not only NFS, but also SMB / CIFS solutions and protocols. The iSCSI SIG will be renamed to the Storage over Ethernet SIG and will focus on promoting data center convergence topics with Ethernet networks, including the use of block and file protocols, such as NFS, SMB, FCoE, and iSCSI, over the same wire. This modified charter will allow us to have a richer conversation around storage trends relevant to your IT environment.

So, here is to a successful 2012, and excitement for the coming year.

NFSv4.1 Webcast-Tuesday, August 28th

Gary Gumanow Leave a comment

NFSv4.1 is a mature and stable protocol with many advantages over NFSv3 in meeting the demands being placed on storage by exploding data growth. Now is the time to plan for a smooth migration. I encourage you to register for our live Webcast   on August 28th at http://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/663/52927.

My colleague, Alex McDonald, and I will review what makes NFSv4.1 ideally suited to a wide range of data center and HPC uses. We’ll discuss how careful planning can result in a migration that does not require modification to applications, and that utilizes existing operational infrastructure in its deployment. You’ll see why you should be evaluating and using NFSv4.1 in 2012. And because it’s live, Alex and I will answer your questions on the spot. We hope to see you there. Here are the details:

Date: Thursday, August 28, 2012
Time: 8:00 am PT / 11:00 am ET / 3:00 pm GMT / 5:00 pm CET
Register: http://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/663/52927
We hope to see you there.

Live Webcast: 10GbE – Key Trends, Drivers and Predictions

Jason Blosil Leave a comment

The SNIA Ethernet Storage Forum (ESF) will be presenting a live Webcast on 10GbE on Thursday, July 19th.   Together with my SNIA colleagues, David Fair and Gary Gumanow, we’ll be discussing the technical and economic justifications that will likely make 2012 the “breakout year” for 10GbE.  We’ll cover the disruptive technologies moving this protocol forward and highlight the real-world benefits early adopters are seeing. I hope you will join us!

The Webacast will begin at 8:00 a.m. PT/11:00 a.m. ET. Register Now: http://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/663/50385

This event is live, so please come armed with your questions. We’ll answer as many as we can on the spot and include the full Q&A here in a SNIA ESF blog post.

We look forward to seeing you on the 19th!

SQL Server “rocks” with iSCSI – Emulex and NetApp tell why

Jason Blosil Leave a comment

The leading storage network technology for mission critical applications  today  is Fibre Channel (FC). Fibre Channel is a highly reliable and high performing network technology for block storage applications. But, for organizations that can’t afford single purpose networks or the added complexity of managing more than one network technology, FC may not be ideal. With the introduction of Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), the ability to deploy your FC storage resources over a shared Ethernet network is now possible. But, FCoE isn’t the only available option for block storage over Ethernet.

Initially used primarily by small and medium sized businesses or for less demanding applications, iSCSI is now finding broad application by larger enterprises for mission critical applications. Some of the drivers for increased iSCSI adoption in the enterprise include lower cost for 10Gb Ethernet components as well as the drive toward cloud based infrastructures which benefit from increased flexibility and scalability associated with IP network protocols.

On February 24th, the SNIA Ethrnet Storage Forum will present a live webcast to discuss the advantages of iSCSI storage for business applications and will show test results demonstrating the performance of  SQL Server deployed with  10GbE iSCSI. Hosted by Gary Gumanow, co-chair of the iSCSI SIG and ESF board member, this presentation will include content experts from  Emulex  and  NetApp along with a live Q&A.

Guest Speakers

Steve Abbott – Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Emulex

Wei Liu – Microsoft Alliance Engineer, NetApp

Data & Time: February 24th, 11am PT

Register today at http://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/25316

SNIA ESF

The SNIA Ethernet Storage Forum is dedicated to educating the IT community on the advantages and best use of Ethernet storage. This presentation is the first in a series of marketing activities that will primarily focus on data center applications during the calendar year 2011.