SMI-S Development

SMI-S (the Storage Management Initiative Specification) has incorporated the work of over 50 companies and hundreds of engineers. SMI-S work groups are now doing specification work on v1.6.1 (addenda) and V2.0.

The SMI-S effort began in 1997 as an idea built on the Distributed Management Task Force’s (DMTF) Common Information Model (CIM); it further incorporated the work and technology of many industry experts and companies. SNIA's Storage Management Initiative (SMI) was formed, and the spec was adopted formally by the SNIA, becoming "SMI-S" in 2002, and has grown considerably since that time. 

The specification development process starts with the SMI Technical Working Groups (TWGs) and is reviewed by many individuals who work through several different revisions before it is voted on for adoption by the participants of the TWGs, SMI Technical Steering Group, and Technical Council. After it is adopted, it moves to the implementation phase through the SMI Lab program. Next it goes to the SMI-S Conformance Testing Program (SMI-S CTP), beginning with the Provider tests and followed by client testing approximately 6 months later. Not all SMI-S participants go through the SMI-S CTP. CTP ensures that certain baseline requirements are adhered to and conform to the specification. 

All activities, programs, and development of SMI-S are supervised and guided by the Storage Management Initiative (SMI), its Governing Board, and its Committees together with the SNIA Technical Working Groups (TWGs) and the support and oversight of the SNIA Board of Directors and the SNIA Technical Council.

To become involved in development of SMI-S, contact the Senior Program Manager, SMI.

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