SNIA Releases Solid State Storage Measurement Specification

The SNIA’s Solid State Storage Initiative (SSSI) has announced that Version 1.0 of the Enterprise Solid State Storage (SSS) Performance Test Specification (PTS) is on target to be released to the public in June 2011. Designed to facilitate broader market adoption of solid state storage technology within the enterprise computing environment, the SNIA Enterprise SSS PTS defines a suite of tests and test methodologies to enable comparative testing of individual SSS device performance.

Comments received during the initial public review of the SSS PTS have resulted in a split of the test specification into separate Enterprise and Client categories. Although there are similarities in the Enterprise and Client SSS test methodologies, there are important differences between Enterprise and Client user workloads and their associated test settings.

“We feel that this new approach will result in precisely targeted specifications that are more relevant to the intended audiences," said Eden Kim, SNIA SSS Technical Work Group (TWG) Chair.

The SSS PTS includes a Reference Test Platform (RTP) that describes the test hardware, software, and tools used by the Technical Work Group to do the bulk of the research and validation of the Specification. The RTP is not required to run the SSS PTS tests; it is merely an example of a platform that has been confirmed to meet the SSS PTS platform requirements. In addition to the Enterprise SSS PTS, the SNIA’s SSSI continues its work on the Draft Client SSS PTS.

Any company interested in participating in the development of the SSS PTS and promoting SSS technology is encouraged to join SNIA, SSSI, and the SSS TWG. Status on updates to the specification, related white papers, and industry articles can be found at http://www.snia.org/forums/sssi.