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Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S)


Happy Birthday, SMI-S! 10 years young and going strong!

The Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) is a standard that has been developed by the SNIA Storage Management Initiative (SMI), its “Member Companies,” and the SNIA’s Technical Working Groups (TWGs) in association with additional standards and technical bodies strategically aligned with the SNIA.

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View a video about SMI-S.

Have a question about SMI-S?
Join the SMI-S Developers Group.

SNIA Education Continuum

View SDC 2012 presentations: Storage Management/SMI-S Track
Read Jeff Goldner's blog posts: "Introduction to SMI-S" &
"Getting started with SMI-S on Windows Server 2012"

SMI-S standardizes and streamlines storage management functions and features into a common set of tools that address the day-to-day tasks of the IT environment. Read more about published versions of SMI-S. The latest publicly released version of SMI-S is the SMI-S V1.6 SNIA Technical Position.

Read Alan Radding's independent assessment:
SMI-S: Managing storage through a single console

Features and Functionality of SMI-S

Initially providing a foundation for identifying the attributes and properties of storage devices, SMI-S now also delivers services such as discovery, security, virtualization, performance, and fault reporting. SMI-S addresses storage management related to:

Hardware Devices: SMI-S Providers

  • FC Switches
  • Arrays (FC and iSCSI)
  • NAS Devices
  • Tape Libraries
  • Host Profiles (including HBAs)

  SMI-S Clients (software)

  • Configuration Discovery
  • Provisioning and Trending
  • Security
  • Asset Management
  • Compliance and Cost Management
  • Event Management
  • Data Protection

SMI-S Participating and Conformant Companies

SMI Member Companies

SMI-S Conforming Provider Companies

SMI-S Conforming Client Companies

For more information on SMI-S, contact Tom Mancuso, Senior Program Manager, SMI.

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Upcoming in 2013 (SMI)

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Conformance Program (CTP)

SMI in the News

  • SNIA Standards & Plugfests improve interoperability.
    Read press release.
  • SNIA announces SMI-S Conformance Test enhancements.
    Read press release.
  • SNIA Technology Center re-opened after evacuation during Waldo Canyon Fire. Read article.
  • Storage automation w/ System Center 2012 & IBM  using SMI-S. Read IBM info.
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS) Storage Gateway supports SMI-S. Read B2C article.
  • VMM 2012 uses SMI-S to interoperate with large number of arrays. Read blog.