To meet the increasingly higher demand on both capacity and performance in large cluster computing environments, the storage subsystem has evolved toward a modular and scalable design. The scale-out file system has emerged as one implementation of the trend, in addition to scale-out object and block storage solutions. What are the key principles when architecting a scale-out file system? Find out on February 28^th when the SNIA Networking Storage Forum (NSF) hosts The Scale-Out File System Architecture Overview, a live webcast where we will present an overview of scale-out file system architectures. This presentation will provide an introduction to scale-out-file systems and cover:

• General principles when architecting a scale-out file system storage solution
• Hardware and software design considerations for different workloads
• Storage challenges when serving a large number of compute nodes, e.g. name space consistency, distributed locking, data replication, etc.
• Use cases for scale-out file systems
• Common benchmark and performance analysis approaches

Register today to save your spot. We hope you will join us.

The landscape of containers is moving fast and constantly changing, with new standards emerging every few months. If you wondering what’s new in container storage, you are not alone. That’s why the SNIA Cloud Storage Technologies Initiative is hosting a live webcast on February 26, 2019, “What’s New in Container Storage.” In this webcast, Keith Hudgins of Docker joins us as a follow up to his earlier container webcast “Intro to Containers, Container Storage and Docker.” It’s our most popular webcast to date with thousands of views. If you missed it, it’s available on demand and will provide you with some great background information before our February 26^th webcast. I encourage you to register today for the February 26^th session where you’ll learn:

• What’s new, what to pay attention to, and how to make sense of the ever-shifting container landscape.
• Container storage types and Container Frameworks
• An overview of the various storage APIs for the container landscape
• How to identify the most important projects to follow in the container world
• The Container Storage Interface spec and Kubernetes 1.13
• How to get involved in the container community

It will be live, so bring your questions!

When it comes to persistent memory, many application developers initially think of change as hard work that likely yields incremental result.  It’s perhaps a better idea to look at the capability that’s new, but that’s already easily accessible using the methods that are in place today.  It’s not that enabling persistent memory is effortless, it’s more that normal code improvement can take advantage of the new features in the standard course of development. The concept of multiple memory tiers is ingrained in nearly every programming model.  While the matrix of possibility can get fairly complex, it’s worth looking at three variables of the memory model.  The first is the access type, either via load/store or block operation. The second is the latency or distance from the processing units; in this case the focus would be on the DIMM.  The last would be memory persistence. Adding persistence to the DIMM tier of memory provides opportunity to programmers in a variety of ways.  Typically, this latency is used for most of the program flow, while data eventually is moved to a farther tier such as disk or network for persistence.  Allocating the majority of data to a low-latency tier like a DIMM has significant potential. An example of this in the marketplace would be SAP’s HANA in-memory database.  However, it’s less well-known that more traditional database products in the same category have built-in methodologies for moving data that is repeatedly accessed into the DIMM tier, later committing changes to storage via background processes.  It’s likely that adding persistence to DIMMs in volume would be both valuable and also architecturally possible in a short period of development time. One way that this process is simplified for developers is the fact that the SNIA NVM Programming Model for DIMM-based persistence incorporates both load/store and block access modes.   Developers already familiar with using SSD over rotating media -- that would be a fourth memory vector, deal with the ambiguity -- would be able to see some incremental performance and potentially some system design simplification.  Those already using memory for data storage could utilize better recovery options as well as explore changes that high-performance storage could bring. Join other developers on Wednesday, January 23rd at the SNIA Persistent Memory Programming Hackathon to explore options for how your software can take advantage of this new opportunity. Complimentary registration is available at this link.

When it comes to persistent memory, many application developers initially think of change as hard work that likely yields incremental result.  It’s perhaps a better idea to look at the capability that’s new, but that’s already easily accessible using the methods that are in place today.  It’s not that enabling persistent memory is effortless, it’s more that normal code improvement can take advantage of the new features in the standard course of development. The concept of multiple memory tiers is ingrained in nearly every programming model.  While the matrix of possibility can get fairly complex, it’s worth looking at three variables of the memory model.  The first is the access type, either via load/store or block operation. The second is the latency or distance from the processing units; in this case the focus would be on the DIMM.  The last would be memory persistence. Adding persistence to the DIMM tier of memory provides opportunity to programmers in a variety of ways.  Typically, this latency is used for most of the program flow, while data eventually is moved to a farther tier such as disk or network for persistence.  Allocating the majority of data to a low-latency tier like a DIMM has significant potential. An example of this in the marketplace would be SAP’s HANA in-memory database.  However, it’s less well-known that more traditional database products in the same category have built-in methodologies for moving data that is repeatedly accessed into the DIMM tier, later committing changes to storage via background processes.  It’s likely that adding persistence to DIMMs in volume would be both valuable and also architecturally possible in a short period of development time. One way that this process is simplified for developers is the fact that the SNIA NVM Programming Model for DIMM-based persistence incorporates both load/store and block access modes.   Developers already familiar with using SSD over rotating media — that would be a fourth memory vector, deal with the ambiguity — would be able to see some incremental performance and potentially some system design simplification.  Those already using memory for data storage could utilize better recovery options as well as explore changes that high-performance storage could bring. Join other developers on Wednesday, January 23rd at the SNIA Persistent Memory Programming Hackathon to explore options for how your software can take advantage of this new opportunity. Complimentary registration is available at this link.

With another successful year of SNIA Storage Developer Conferences (SDC) completed, SNIA on Storage spoke with Mark Carlson, SNIA Technical Council Co-Chair, on 2018 highlights and 2019 plans to educate and support this important technical community. SNIA On Storage (SOS):  In 2018, SNIA volunteers provided key resources and time supporting our storage developer community, a central focus for the Technical Council.  What activities were the TC most pleased with in 2018? Mark Carlson (MC):  For the past several years we have been pushing SDC to expand globally. Starting with SDC India and this year adding SDC EMEA, we are reaching developers around the world now with educational content. Each year we get better and better talk proposals and the hard part is not being able to present more content. I always encourage developers to submit talks on their latest discoveries and architectures. Other developers want to hear about it. SOS:  There was a lot of good feedback on the content from SDC North America in 2018.  What was your overall impression of this 21^st SDC event? MC:  We had more folks than ever attending SDC 2018 and there was great energy in the sessions – particularly those hallway track ones.  We had strong topics and speakers with 16 keynotes as well as the breakout sessions and BoFs. I enjoyed hearing about new architectures such as Computational Storage and composable infrastructure. And for those who missed attending in person, all 100 session presentations are available for download from the SNIA web site. SOS:  What are some of the highlights for those who could not attend? MC:  SNIA’s new activities on computational storage were well received.  The keynote from Andy Walker on the Evolution of Solid State Memory was of high interest. Also Storage Lessons from High Performance Computing by Gary Grider of Los Alamos Labs generated lots of good questions. SNIA recorded all the keynotes and general sessions, which are available on the SNIA Video channel.  The Technical Council has also chosen the audio recordings of the best breakout sessions to be available as podcasts, with a new one released every week.  They can be found on the SNIA podcast site and are available on Apple iTunes.  The 2018 podcasts begin with #76.  You can also find podcasts from previous years on that page. SOS:  Now that SDC has expanded beyond North America, what’s on tap for 2019? MC:  SNIA returns to Tel Aviv, Israel with the second annual SDC EMEA on January 30, 2019. Delegate registration is now open and is rapidly filling up. SDC EMEA 2019 is also running an SMB Plugfest all week and has also scheduled an afternoon Technical Seminar on SMB.  You can register and learn more at https://www.snia.org/events/sdcemea SDC will also return to Bangalore, India on May 23-24, 2019.  The call for presentations is open at https://www.snia.org/events/sdcindia.  The SNIA India developer community is very strong and has an important role in establishing this agenda. We welcome all companies with developer activities in India to participate in SDC and also in the SNIA India T/E/N meetups which happen throughout the year. SOS:  Great talking with you, Mark, and we look forward to an excellent year of storage developer education in 2019.

It’s very rare that there is a significant change in computer architecture, especially one that is nearly immediately pervasive across the breadth of a market segment.  It’s even more rare when a fundamental change such as this is supported in a way that software developers can quickly adapt to existing software architecture. Most significant transitions require a ground-up rethink to achieve performance or reliability gains, and the cost-benefit analysis generally pushes a transition to the new thing be measured in multiple revisions as opposed to one, big jump. In the last decade the growth of persistent memory has bucked this trend.  The introduction of the solid-state disk made an immediate impact on existing software, especially in the server market.  Any program that relied on multiple, small-data, read/write cycles to disk recognized significant performance increases. In cases such as multi-tiered databases, the software found a, “new tier,” of storage nearly automatically and started partitioning data to it.  In an industry where innovation takes years, improvement took a matter of months to proliferate across new deployments. While the SSD is now a standard consideration there is unexplored opportunity in solid-state storage.  The NVDIMM form factor has been in existence for quite some time, providing data persistence significantly closer to processing units in the modern server and workstation.  Many developers, however, are not aware that programming models already exist to easily incorporate some simple performance and reliability, both for byte and block access in programs.  Moreover, new innovations of persistent memory are on the horizon that will increase the density and performance of DIMM form factors. Perhaps it’s time that more software architecture should be working on adapting this exciting technology.  The barriers to innovation are very low, and opportunity is significant. Over the year 2019, SNIA will be sponsoring the delivery of several workshops dedicated to opening up persistent memory programming to the developer community.  The first of these will be a Persistent Memory Programming Hackathon at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara CA on January 23, 2019, the day before the SNIA Persistent Memory Summit.   Developers will have the opportunity to work with experienced software architects to understand how to quickly adapt code to use new persistent memory modes in a hackathon format.  Learn more and register at this link. Don’t miss the opportunity to move on a strategic software inflection point ahead of the competition.  Consider attending the 2019 SNIA Persistent Memory Summit and exploring the opportunity with persistent memory.

It’s very rare that there is a significant change in computer architecture, especially one that is nearly immediately pervasive across the breadth of a market segment.  It’s even more rare when a fundamental change such as this is supported in a way that software developers can quickly adapt to existing software architecture. Most significant transitions require a ground-up rethink to achieve performance or reliability gains, and the cost-benefit analysis generally pushes a transition to the new thing be measured in multiple revisions as opposed to one, big jump. In the last decade the growth of persistent memory has bucked this trend.  The introduction of the solid-state disk made an immediate impact on existing software, especially in the server market.  Any program that relied on multiple, small-data, read/write cycles to disk recognized significant performance increases. In cases such as multi-tiered databases, the software found a, “new tier,” of storage nearly automatically and started partitioning data to it.  In an industry where innovation takes years, improvement took a matter of months to proliferate across new deployments. While the SSD is now a standard consideration there is unexplored opportunity in solid-state storage.  The NVDIMM form factor has been in existence for quite some time, providing data persistence significantly closer to processing units in the modern server and workstation.  Many developers, however, are not aware that programming models already exist to easily incorporate some simple performance and reliability, both for byte and block access in programs.  Moreover, new innovations of persistent memory are on the horizon that will increase the density and performance of DIMM form factors. Perhaps it’s time that more software architecture should be working on adapting this exciting technology.  The barriers to innovation are very low, and opportunity is significant. Over the year 2019, SNIA will be sponsoring the delivery of several workshops dedicated to opening up persistent memory programming to the developer community.  The first of these will be a Persistent Memory Programming Hackathon at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara CA on January 23, 2019, the day before the SNIA Persistent Memory Summit.   Developers will have the opportunity to work with experienced software architects to understand how to quickly adapt code to use new persistent memory modes in a hackathon format.  Learn more and register at this link. Don’t miss the opportunity to move on a strategic software inflection point ahead of the competition.  Consider attending the 2019 SNIA Persistent Memory Summit and exploring the opportunity with persistent memory.

SNIA 7^th annual Persistent Memory Summit – January 24, 2019 at the Hyatt Santa Clara CA – delivers a far-reaching agenda exploring exciting new topics with experienced speakers:

• Paul Grun of OpenFabrics Alliance and Cray on the Characteristics of Persistent Memory
• Stephen Bates of Eideticom, Neal Christiansen of Microsoft, and Eric Kaczmarek of Intel on Enabling Persistent Memory through OS and Interpreted Languages
• Adam Roberts of Western Digital on the Mission Critical Fundamental Architecture for Numerous In-memory Databases
• Idan Burstein of Mellanox Technologies on Making Remote Memory Persistent
• Eden Kim of Calypso Systems on Persistent Memory Performance Benchmarking and Comparison

And much more!  Full agenda and speaker bios at http://www.snia.org/pm-summit. Registration is complimentary and includes the opportunity to tour demonstrations of persistent memory applications available today from SNIA Persistent Memory and NVDIMM SIG, SMART Modular, AgigA Tech, and Viking Technology over lunch, at breaks, and during the evening Networking Reception.  Additional sponsorship opportunities are available to SNIA and non-SNIA member companies – learn more. New Companion Event to the Summit – Persistent Memory Programming Hackathon Wednesday January 23, 2019 9:00 am – 2:00 pm Join us for the inaugural PM Programming Hackathon on the day before the Summit –a half-day program designed to get software developers an understanding of the various tiers and modes of Persistent Memory and what existing methods are available to access them.  Learn more and register at https://www.snia.org/pm-summit/hackathon

SNIA 7^th annual Persistent Memory Summit – January 24, 2019 at the Hyatt Santa Clara CA – delivers a far-reaching agenda exploring exciting new topics with experienced speakers:

• Paul Grun of OpenFabrics Alliance and Cray on the Characteristics of Persistent Memory
• Stephen Bates of Eideticom, Neal Christiansen of Microsoft, and Eric Kaczmarek of Intel on Enabling Persistent Memory through OS and Interpreted Languages
• Adam Roberts of Western Digital on the Mission Critical Fundamental Architecture for Numerous In-memory Databases
• Idan Burstein of Mellanox Technologies on Making Remote Memory Persistent
• Eden Kim of Calypso Systems on Persistent Memory Performance Benchmarking and Comparison

And much more!  Full agenda and speaker bios at http://www.snia.org/pm-summit. Registration is complimentary and includes the opportunity to tour demonstrations of persistent memory applications available today from SNIA Persistent Memory and NVDIMM SIG, SMART Modular, AgigA Tech, and Viking Technology over lunch, at breaks, and during the evening Networking Reception.  Additional sponsorship opportunities are available to SNIA and non-SNIA member companies – learn more. New Companion Event to the Summit – Persistent Memory Programming Hackathon Wednesday January 23, 2019 9:00 am – 2:00 pm Join us for the inaugural PM Programming Hackathon on the day before the Summit –a half-day program designed to get software developers an understanding of the various tiers and modes of Persistent Memory and what existing methods are available to access them.  Learn more and register at https://www.snia.org/pm-summit/hackathon

Cloud data centers are by definition very dynamic. The need for infrastructure availability in the right place at the right time for the right use case is not as predictable, nor as static, as it has been in traditional data centers. These cloud data centers need to rapidly construct virtual pools of compute, network and storage based on the needs of particular customers or applications, then have those resources dynamically and automatically flex as needs change. To accomplish this, many in the industry espouse composable infrastructure capabilities, which rely on heterogeneous resources with specific capabilities that can be discovered, managed, and automatically provisioned and re-provisioned through data center orchestration tools. The primary benefit of composable infrastructure results in a smaller grained sets of resources that are independently scalable and can be brought together as required. On February 13, 2019, The SNIA Cloud Storage Technologies Initiative is going to examine what’s happening with composable infrastructure in our live webcast, Why Composable Infrastructure? In this webcast, SNIA experts will discuss: What prompted the development of composable infrastructure?

• What is composable infrastructure?
• What are the enabling technologies and potential solutions
• Enabling technologies (not just what’s here, but what’s needed…)
• An update on the current status of composable infrastructure standards/products, and where we might be in two to five years

Our goal is to clearly explain the reasoning behind and the benefits of composable infrastructure in an educational, vendor-neutral way. We hope you’ll join us. Our experts will be on hand to answer your questions. Register today to save your spot.