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The SNIA Dictionary

A glossary of storage networking and data and information management terminology

by the Storage Networking Industry Association

The SNIA Dictionary contains terms and definitions related to storage and other information technologies, and is the storage networking industry's most comprehensive attempt to date to arrive at a common body of terminology for the technologies it represents. The terms go through a rigorous technical review and approval process by the SNIA Technical Council to assure their accuracy. The SNIA Technical Council is a group of industry technical experts elected by the members of the SNIA to guide the SNIA’s technical efforts. Their extensive individual technical backgrounds cover all aspects of storage.

The reader should recognize that in this rapidly evolving field, new terminology is constantly being introduced, and common usage is shifting. The SNIA regards this dictionary as a living document, to be updated as necessary to reflect a consensus on common usage, and encourages readers to treat it in that spirit. Comments and suggestions for improvement are gratefully accepted at any time, with the understanding that any submitter of comments or suggestions contributes them to SNIA; and SNIA will therefore own the rights to them. Comments and suggestions may be directed to dictionary@snia.org

Proposals for new terms or definitions, or modifications to existing ones, should be submitted on the form located at http://www.snia.org/education/dictionary/submittal/

Currently the dictionary is published online approximately every six months, with rollout at each Storage Networking World (SNW). Paper and CD/Flash media versions are published, with sponsorship opportunities, each spring, with rollout at the Spring SNW.

Terms of Use

The SNIA hereby grants permission for individuals to use this glossary for personal use only, and for corporations and other business entities to use this glossary for internal use only (including internal copying, distribution, and display), provided that:

Any definition reproduced must be reproduced in its entirety with no alteration, and, any document, printed or electronic, in which material from this glossary (or any portion hereof) is reproduced must acknowledge the SNIA copyright on that material, and must credit the SNIA for granting permission for its reuse.

Other than as explicitly provided above, you may not make any commercial use of this glossary, sell any or all of this glossary, or distribute this glossary to third parties. All rights not explicitly granted above are expressly reserved to SNIA. In particular, the provisions above do not grant the rights to make any commercial use of this glossary, sell any or all of this dictionary, or distribute this dictionary to third parties.

Permission to use this glossary for purposes other than those enumerated above may be requested by e-mailing dictionary@snia.org; please include the identity of the requesting individual and/or company and a brief description of the purpose, nature, and scope of the requested use.

Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Storage Networking Industry Association, All Rights Reserved. Last updated on 4 March, 2009.

Definition Format

The format for definitions has changed as of the last half of 2008. Terms are now defined as much as possible using the substitution principle, which states that a term's definition should be substitutable for the term itself in a sentence.

In the case that more text is required or deemed helpful, it is contained in one or more separate paragraphs after the definition itself. This text is informative in nature, and while intended to be accurate, is not technically part of the definition itself.

Context Hierarchy

Most of the terms in this dictionary have meaning primarily in specific sub-contexts of storage networking, such as SCSI or Storage Systems. The following categories are used to declare the context in which a given definition in this dictionary is held to be valid. No attempt has been made to date to rigorously define these categories, so they remain a guide to understanding, not a formal system.

General

Hardware

Network

SCSI

iSCSI

Fibre Channel

Data Communication

Computer System

Storage System

Operating System

Windows

Management

Data Management

Backup

Data Recovery

Data Security

Database

File System

Long Term Retention

Storage Management

Standards

Legal

The context hierarchy is a work in progress. In part, we are constrained by practice in previous editions of the dictionary. In the above hierarchy representation, context labels indented beneath other context labels represent specializations of the higher-order label concept. Below is an example of how context is indicated:

context example

[Context] The context is called out in square brackets at the beginning of each definition, as in this example.

We have kept the number of terms marked "General" to a minimum, as the correct place for most general terms is an ordinary dictionary, not a special-purpose dictionary such as this one. However, in some cases calling out general terms in a storage context may be useful, and is done here in that spirit.

Key Programs