There are an increasing number of Cloud Storage offerings available on the market today
with more being added seemingly every week. But how easy is it to move from one cloud
provider to another one? How easy is it to move your data (and the metadata you have created)
between the various providers?
Please plan to join the SNIA Cloud Storage Initiative (CSI) Monday evening (Jan 23rd) at the Sainte Claire Hotel in San Jose for a Birds of Feather (BOF) session on Cloud Storage
Interoperability. The meeting will take place from 6-7:30pm.
Topics include:
Cloud Plugfest plans for 2012
Discussion of Cloud Storage Conformance Programs
Cloud Storage Interoperability Demos (SNW, SDC, others)
CDMI conformance test plans and testing tools
The CSI is considering the creation of an Interoperability Committee to oversee and govern
the operation of these types of activities, and is looking for volunteers to step up and help
lead as well as take on projects in this space. For individuals who can make a commitment,
complimentary individual membership in the CSI can be offered (regardless of whether your
company is a CSI member).
SNIA’s Cloud Storage Technical Work Group (TWG) has wrapped up work on a point release of CDMI (version 1.0.1) and has submitted it to ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 (JTC 1) under SNIA's new status as a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) submitter (granted in September). This update release is a SNIA Architecture standard and includes bug fixes and minor improvements including standard IETF RFC 6208 Media Types. As the CDMI specification makes its way through the JTC 1 approval process, support from National Bodies is needed in order for CDMI to become an international standard.
The Cloud Data Management Interface defines the functional interface that applications will use to create, retrieve, update and delete data elements from the Cloud. As part of this interface the client will be able to discover the capabilities of the cloud storage offering and use this interface to manage containers and the data that is placed in them. In addition, metadata can be set on containers and their contained data elements through this interface. This interface is also used by administrative and management applications to manage data (apply software data services), containers, accounts, security access and monitoring/billing information, even for storage that is accessible by other protocols. The capabilities of the underlying storage and data services are exposed so that clients can understand the offering.
The Cloud Storage TWG is also starting to scope work for a version 1.1 of CDMI that will include a number of extensions as they are implemented by multiple vendors. For more information about this topic click here.
Cloud Storage Standard Readies for Widespread Adoption
SNIA is establishing relationships with National and International Standards Groups; Recent Market Research Reveals CDMI will be Mainstream in RFPs
Santa Clara, Calif. (April 4th, 2011) — The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) Cloud Storage Initiative (CSI), today announced that the Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI), released as an official SNIA Architecture one year ago, continues to make significant steps toward broad acceptance.
“A critical part of delivering an industry wide standard is building a strong ecosystem of partners, alliances and supporting programs,” said David Slik, Co–Chair of SNIA Cloud Storage Technical Work Group. “As demonstrated by initiating relationships with nationally and internationally recognized standards bodies and our forthcoming CDMI Plugfest, we are making strong progress around delivering not only a strong standard, but a widely accepted and valued one.”
SNIA’s CDMI standard has been refined over the past year and is now being readied for further de jure standardization. The SNIA has joined the DAPS38 Technical Committee (which is responsible for Cloud Computing, among other technology standards) of INCITS – the primary U.S. focus of standardization in the field of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). The SNIA has also requested a Category A Liaison relationship with the ISO/IEC JTC 1 SC38 subcommittee for Distributed Application Platforms and Services (DAPS).
CDMI has been citied in numerous cloud roadmaps and studies, including those from ITU–T (International Telecommunication Union), TeleManagement Forum, SIENA (the European Standards and Interoperability for eInfrastructure Implementation Initiative), and NIST (the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology). The maturing CDMI Reference Implementation has been through initial testing of the NIST SAJACC (Standards Acceleration to Jumpstart Adoption of Cloud Computing) use cases..
SNIA CSI 2011 sponsored activities include Plugfests , with the first taking place April 19–21, 2011 at the SNIA Technology Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Cloud Plugfest allows vendors to bring their implementations of CDMI and the Open Grid Forum’s Open Cloud Computing Interface (OCCI) to test, identify, and fix bugs in a collaborative setting with the goal of providing a forum in which companies can develop interoperable products. For additional details on participating in the Cloud Plugfest, please visit www.snia.org/cloud/cloudplugfest/ .
SNIA CSI will repeat its “SNIA Cloud Burst Summit” in Santa Clara, California, on September 22, 2011 as an extended program with the SNIA Storage Developer Conference (SDC). In 2010, over 100 attendees participated in the Cloud Burst Summit, joining other cloud strategists and deployment professionals in this highly successful inaugural program that featured noted industry luminary Geoffrey Moore as the keynote speaker on the topic of clouds and IT transformation.
SNIA CSI has also partnered with Storage Strategies NOW to help bring to market research that will help inform the industry of the key insights around cloud storage. This information, which can be found in the IT Professionals Cloud Adoption Survey released today, will provide a valuable service to help users, vendors and the industry at–large track how adoption and use of cloud technologies should be considered. To learn more, visit www.ssg–now.com.
Deni Connor, principal analyst, Storage Strategies NOW added, “Our findings include that Email (66%) is the primary application for cloud storage, followed by backup (59%) and front office applications (45%). Additionally, 53% say that SNIA’s CDMI will be part of cloud storage RFPs/proposals; and 30% of respondents say SNIA’s CDMI is very important for public/hybrid cloud standard”.
Deni Connor, principal analyst, Storage Strategies NOW added, “Our findings include that Email (66%) is the primary application for cloud storage, followed by backup (59%) and front office applications (45%). Additionally, 53% say that SNIA’s CDMI will be part of cloud storage RFPs/proposals; and 30% of respondents say SNIA’s CDMI is very important for public/hybrid cloud standard”.
To learn more about SNIA and CSI stop by the SNIA CSI Cloud Pavilion on Tuesday and Wednesday during SNW Expo Hall hours.
About the SNIA Cloud Storage Initiative
The SNIA Cloud Storage Initiative (CSI) fosters the growth and success of the market for cloud storage for vendors, service providers, and users. Members of the CSI work together to advance the adoption of the SNIA Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) standard, educate the IT communities about cloud storage, perform market outreach that highlights the virtues of cloud storage, and collaborate with other industry associations on cloud storage technical work. CSI member companies represent a variety of segments in the IT industry and include Actifio, Asigra, Broadcom, CA Technologies, Cisco, Cleversafe, CoreVault, Desktone, EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, HP, IBM, Iron Mountain, LSI Corporation, Mezeo, NetApp, Oracle, Scality, Sepaton, SpectraLogic, StorSimple, SwiftTest, Terasky, Terremark, and Xiotech. For more information on SNIA’s Cloud Storage activities, visit snia.org/cloud and get involved in the conversation at twitter.com/SNIACloud or http://groups.google.com/group/snia-cloud.
About SNIA
The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) is a not–for–profit global organization, made up of some 400 member companies spanning virtually the entire storage industry. SNIA’s mission is to lead the storage industry worldwide in developing and promoting standards, technologies, and educational services to empower organizations in the management of information. To this end, the SNIA is uniquely committed to delivering standards, education, and services that will propel open storage networking solutions into the broader market. For additional information, visit the SNIA web site at www.snia.org.
US Government Driven Cloud Standards
Join NIST, SNIA, DMTF and the CSA for a Brighttalk webcast.
This recorded webcast session looks at the use cases developed by The US National Instititue of Standards and Technology (NIST) in collaboration with the public to drive interoperability, portability and security of cloud computing. A panel of key representatives from NIST as well as several industry standards organizations, including the DMTF, SNIA and the Cloud Security Alliance discuss their work as it relates to these use cases. The discussion covers portable workloads and standardized interfaces for cloud computing. The goal of cloud standards is to improve cloud consumer agility and define a set of architectural semantics that unify the interoperable management of workloads and resources between enterprises of all sizes and cloud computing infrastructures.
New Special Interest Group Forming: Archive and Preservation in the Cloud
We had a jam packed group in San Jose on the 26th of January for a Birds of Feather session to kick off the formation of the CSI Archive/Preservation Special Interest Group (SIG). We had sufficient folks take an active interest that we will be forming the group!
Please Join if you are a SNIA CSI member, or contact Marty to get started.
The SNIA Cloud Storage Initiative (CSI) and Technical Work Group (TWG) have been busy delivering on the promises made in 2010 and are planning several activities for the year 2011. This session was held live at the SNIA Winter Symposium and streamed live and on demand from the SNIA Cloud web site here. The video recording is now available below:
Watch this video to learn about the exciting formation of the Archive and Preservation Special Interest Group. Hear about 2011 cloud education and collaboration activities for end users, the channel, and vendors at the SNW Santa Clara, SNIA Symposium, SNIA Storage Developers Conference/CloudBurst, SNW Fall and SNW Europe. Get involved NOW - plan your sponsorships to save money and increase your cloud exposure.
You can also download this video for offline viewing (select click save as...)
CDMI Tutorial from SNW
The CDMI Tutorial given at SNW Fall and SNW Europe is now online. Learn the basics of this important storage standard here. Also available for download to your iDevice.
Implementing, Serving, and Using Cloud Storage Whitepaper
Organizations of all types are trying to control costs and satisfy increasing demands at the same time— demands created by explosive data growth and ever-changing regulations. To address these challenges, storage industry professionals are turning to cloud computing and cloud storage solutions.
The SNIA Cloud Storage Initiative will be out in force at the SNWEurope 2010 show with Tutorials, a Hands on Lab and a Cloud Pavilion on the show floor.
A unique one-day Summit dedicated to bringing together end users, cloud storage vendors and Cloud providers.
Attendees can join either in person or via a live-streamed event with on-demand post-summit viewing featuring SNIA Cloud Burst Summit sponsors.
SNIA CSI SECOND HALF 2010 ACTIVITIES KICKOFF VIDEO
The SNIA Cloud Storage Initiative (CSI) and Technical Work Group (TWG) have been busy delivering on the promises made late last year and are planning several activities for the remainder of the year. SNIA Architecture Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) Version 1.0 is now published, and the SNIA Software CDMI Reference Implementation is in process, allowing early access to code. A SNIA-OGF joint CDMI demo will occur in July (SNIA Symposium) and September (SNIA Storage Developers Conference).
View this webinar to learn about the exciting new Cloud Backup and Restore (Cloud BUR) Special Interest Group. Hear about summer and fall 2010 cloud education and collaboration activities for end users, the channel, and vendors at the SNIA Symposium, SNIA Storage Developers Conference and CloudBurst, SNW Dallas, and SNW Europe. Get involved NOW - plan your sponsorships to save money and increase your cloud exposure. As always, visit us at snia.org/cloud for the latest on CSI activities.
CDMI Reference Implementation Working Draft Available
The first working draft release of the Reference Implementation of CDMI is now available for download. The software is available as source code writtten in the Java language under the open source BSD license. This version implements some basic CDMI functionality, allowing for client developers to get started on their CDMI based applications.
This working draft CDMI Reference Implementation is being released so that developers can get started with integrating CDMI into their products and applications. As the SNIA Cloud Storage Technical Working Group (TWG) continues to create additional functionality, subsequent releases of the CDMI Reference Implementation will be made available.
Abstract:
Gartner identified Cloud Computing as the top technology for 2010, yet the number of enterprises choosing to adopt the cloud is not as high as anticipated. Implementation of cloud infrastructure is a strategic IT decision that involves careful evaluation and promises long term benefits, while application deployment has been more readily adopted in the short term. The experts at this summit will highlight best practices for managing cloud infrastructure, discuss how to distribute workloads in the cloud and give you an overview of what services are available in the market today.
This event will be moderated by Mark Carlson of the SNIA Technical Council, DMTF Board of Directors, Sun Microsystems and Cloud-Standards.org
Winston Bumpus is president of DMTF and Director of Standards at VMware
Craig Lee is President of Open Grid Forum and Senior Scientist in the Computer Systems Research Department of The Aerospace Corporation
Jon Siegel is Vice President of Technology Transfer at Object Management Group and formerly worked in the Computer Science Research Department at Shell Development Company
The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) announced at SNW Spring 2010 , the formal approval of the Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) as a SNIA Architecture standard. This milestone marks the first industry-developed open standard;for cloud computing and will allow for interoperable cloud storage implementations from cloud service providers and storage vendors.
The SNIA Cloud Storage Initiative will be out in force at the SNW Spring 2010 show with Tutorials, a Hands on Lab and a Cloud Pavilion on the show floor. In addition we will be giving away an iPad at the Cloud BOF. Come by the Pavilion to get an entry in the drawing.
This paper defines a set of requirements for storage in “multi-tenant” cloud environments in four key areas of concern for cloud adopters: security; quality of service; data protection and availability; and manageability. Where appropriate, these requirements are defined in terms of the Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI).
As per the recently approved ballot for the SNIA CSI Governing Board Membership, the newly formed CSI Governing Board held its first meeting on January 27th.
What: Presentation on Cloud programs for the upcoming year. SlidesWebex Replay:StreamDownload
Agenda:
Welcome and Introduction – Vincent Franceschini Cloud Storage TWG Progress and Roadmap - Mark Carlson Cloud Storage Marketing Plans – Marty Foltyn Cloud Storage Whitepapers – Kellye Crane http://www.snia.org/cloud – (How to get involved) – Val Bercovici CSI opportunities – Education, Industry Alliances – Vincent Franceschini How to Join CSI – Jay Savell Q&A + Wrap-up – Vincent Franceschini and CSI team
Get the whitepaper on Managing Data Storage in the Public Cloud
The Storage Networking Industry Association has published a whitepaper on Managing Data in the Public Cloud.
In July, we held a Cloud Storage Mini-Summit. We had presentations from several groups working in the cloud and then went deep on what the Cloud Storage TWG has been working on. An archive of the talks with webex recordings is available here:
The SNIA has created the Cloud Storage Technical Work Group for the purpose of developing SNIA Architecture related to system implementations of Cloud Storage technology. The Cloud Storage TWG:
Acts as the primary technical entity for the SNIA to identify, develop, and coordinate systems standards for Cloud Storage.
Produces a comprehensive set of specifications and drives consistency of interface standards and messages across the various Cloud Storage related efforts.
Documents system-level requirements and shares these with other Cloud Storage standards organizations under the guidance of the SNIA Technical Council and in cooperation with the SNIA Strategic Alliances Committee
The SNIA is participating in a group that will coordinate cloud standards across Standards Development Organizations (SDOs). SNIA has existing relationships with DMTF and OGF that have recently been expanded to include cloud standards. The new group has a Cloud Standards Coordination wiki at:
