As a new SNIA fiscal year begins,  SNIA Business Development and Membership Services would like to express our sincere thanks to all SNIA members for making 2012 a great success.  Through your efforts, the SNIA achieved tremendous milestones, including:

• The SNIA Cloud Data Management Interface Specification Earned ISO/IEC Designation as an International Standard
• CompTIA Storage+ Powered by SNIA Certification Earned ISO Accreditation
• The SNIA announced new technical work groups in Linear Tape File System and Non Volatile Memory (NVM) programming
• An Updated Client Solid State Storage Performance Test Specification was released by the SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative
• A NEW Service Provider category of membership was created
• An ever expanding set of educational and outreach summits, webcasts, white papers, and SNIA Tutorials by SNIA Forums,  Initiatives, and Committees dedicated to Analytics and Big Data, Cloud Storage, Data Protection and Capacity Optimization, Ethernet Storage, Green Storage, Solid State Storage, Storage Management, and Storage Security

Members of the SNIA share a common goal: advancing IT technologies, standards, and education programs for all IT professionals. To this end, the SNIA is uniquely committed to connecting the IT industry with end-to-end storage and information management solutions and to delivering standards, education and services that will propel open storage networking solutions into the broader market. Today, the SNIA has grown to over 400 member companies located all over the world. As we continue to expand into 2013, we invite you to continue your participation in our programs, and reap the benefits that SNIA brings to you and your organization. Membership Categories & ROI Membership in the SNIA offers a tremendous return on investment for individuals, companies, and organizations involved in the storage industry. As a Vendor, your membership in the SNIA signals to customers that you are an industry leader driving specifications, architecture and standards.  Regardless of your company’s size, the SNIA has created an environment and pricing structure that encourages cross-company collaboration to develop real solutions that serve the ever expanding and ever changing needs of organizations. As a Service Provider, the SNIA’s vendor-neutral environment provides the ideal backdrop for gaining insight into the storage, networking, and technology markets, essential for developing on-target sales and marketing strategies.  Access to equipment at the SNIA Technology Center in Colorado Springs allows you and fellow SNIA members in all membership categories to conduct in-depth evaluations of potential offerings, as well as analyses of future technologies. Perhaps you are an Channel company.  The members-only area informs you quickly about market strategies and products in a vendor neutral atmosphere.  This is crucial when making planning and purchasing decisions for a diverse and technical customer base.. If you are a SNIA individual member, you stay current, connected and marketable.  Individuals in the SNIA have a clear, competitive edge.  Working along side of industry leaders, individual members have the opportunity to sharpen their professional skills, gaining both technical and/or marketing knowledge that otherwise could take years of on-the-job training. The 2013 year holds bright promise, so don’t forget to renew your membership today.  Contact Lisa Mercurio, Membership Services Manager at (781) 293-9860 or email lisa.mercurio@snia.org.  And if you are a not yet a SNIA member, what are you waiting for?  Contact Marty Foltyn, SNIA Business Development Manager, at (858) 720-9780 or marty.foltyn@snia.org today!

The media buzz continues on solid state storage, now a prominent feature of storage, virtualization, and developer discussions.  Reaching the ears of business is SSSI's Marketing Committee Chair Tom Coughlin, who has a blog on Forbes.  Latest posts discuss  a new age of digital storage interfaces, many based on the PCIe computer interface, that can take advantage of the higher data rates that NAND flash-based digital storage can provide. Solid State Storage was featured at recent storage conferences including SNIA's Storage Developer Conference and SNW (Storage Networking World) US and Europe.  At SNW US, Lucas Mearian of Computerworld and Jim Pappas, SNIA Board and SSSI member, discussed a sea change in the non-volatile memory (NVM) market over the next five years, with more dense and reliable technologies challenging dominant NAND flash memory now used in solid-state drives (SSD) and embedded in mobile products.  Mearian's article is here. At Powering the Cloud - SNW Europe, Randy Kerns of the SNIA member Evaluator Group led a spotlight session on Solid State Storage and Its Impact on the Environment, with presentations from SSSI members Kim Gardner of STEC and David Dale of NetApp. SNIA and the Solid State Storage Initiative urge you to get involved in fast-developing SSSI activities in PCIe and NVM.  Visit our website at http://www.snia.org/forums/sssi or email asksssi@snia.org

The media buzz continues on solid state storage, now a prominent feature of storage, virtualization, and developer discussions.  Reaching the ears of business is SSSI’s Marketing Committee Chair Tom Coughlin, who has a blog on Forbes.  Latest posts discuss  a new age of digital storage interfaces, many based on the PCIe computer interface, that can take advantage of the higher data rates that NAND flash-based digital storage can provide.

Solid State Storage was featured at recent storage conferences including SNIA’s Storage Developer Conference and SNW (Storage Networking World) US and Europe.  At SNW US, Lucas Mearian of Computerworld and Jim Pappas, SNIA Board and SSSI member, discussed a sea change in the non-volatile memory (NVM) market over the next five years, with more dense and reliable technologies challenging dominant NAND flash memory now used in solid-state drives (SSD) and embedded in mobile products.  Mearian’s article is here.

At Powering the Cloud – SNW Europe, Randy Kerns of the SNIA member Evaluator Group led a spotlight session on Solid State Storage and Its Impact on the Environment, with presentations from SSSI members Kim Gardner of STEC and David Dale of NetApp.

SNIA and the Solid State Storage Initiative urge you to get involved in fast-developing SSSI activities in PCIe and NVM.  Visit our website at http://www.snia.org/forums/sssi or email asksssi@snia.org

Our recent Webcast: Flash – Plan for the Disruption was very well received and well attended. We thank everyone who was able to make the live event. For those of you who couldn’t make it, it’s now available on demand. Check it out here.

There wasn’t enough time to respond to all of the questions during the Webcast, so we have consolidated answers to all of them in this blog post from the presentation team. Feel free to comment and provide your input.

Q. Are you going to cache both read and writes in NetApp FlashCache?
A. Flash Cache is a level 2 Read cache and it is used to accelerate random read operations. NetApp offers an additional capability called Flash Pool which caches both random reads and random overwrites. Both technologies are part of the NetApp Virtual Storage Tier family within the Data ONTAP operating environment.

Q. Is eMLC flash available today?
A. Yes, a number of Flash vendors are shipping eMLC today.

Q. Also can you review the write cycle performance of SLC vs. MLC?
A. Write cycles for SLC are typically around 100,000. With eMLC, write cycles of 30,000 per bit can be achieved.

Q. Has specific analysis been conducted on what applications and relative data can be cached at the server versus at the storage controller (tolerance for latency, user patience, etc.)?
A. This varies but server caching will typically be used for applications with the most hot spots such as databases. If there is a particular requirement for ultra low latency such as in OLTP environments, server caching may be appropriate. Server caching can also yield significant benefit to increase VM density. Generally, server caching will be deployed to accelerate a specific application while storage controller caching will be used to accelerate storage which is shared across multiple applications.
Q. Does the data running over the network storage PDUs or Ethernet Layer2/IP traffic?
A. Ethernet Layer 2 in this demo, thought it could have been scaled to for L3 IP routed traffic.
Q. What is the difference between flash tier and flash cache?
A. A flash tier is persistent storage whereby datasets are pinned to flash technology for some period of time (or permanently). In Automated Storage Tiering, data may be migrated to and from the flash tier based on the temperature of the data. A flash cache, on the other hand is a caching technology in which the most frequently accessed data is copied to flash for data access but then evicted as the data cools down. Data is copied to the flash cache either on the basis of calculated data temperature or on a first-in first-out basis.
Q. Given the large advantages of flash on power (direct), cooling, and DC footprint, why do enterprise data centers not just completely switch out their HDDs? It seems like there is a good ROI even without considering performance. Is it the operational complexities that make this challenging?
A. For many applications, this is not cost justified given the significant price difference of the SSD and HDD devices. Since hot data typically amounts to less than 20% of total data, a small amount of flash can be deployed successfully. In the caching case, this can be around 1%.

Our recent Webcast: Flash – Plan for the Disruption was very well received and well attended. We thank everyone who was able to make the live event. For those of you who couldn't make it, it's now available on demand. Check it out here. There wasn't enough time to respond to all of the questions during the Webcast, so we have consolidated answers to all of them in this blog post from the presentation team. Feel free to comment and provide your input. Q. Are you going to cache both read and writes in NetApp FlashCache? A. Flash Cache is a level 2 Read cache and it is used to accelerate random read operations. NetApp offers an additional capability called Flash Pool which caches both random reads and random overwrites. Both technologies are part of the NetApp Virtual Storage Tier family within the Data ONTAP operating environment. Q. Is eMLC flash available today? A. Yes, a number of Flash vendors are shipping eMLC today. Q. Also can you review the write cycle performance of SLC vs. MLC? A. Write cycles for SLC are typically around 100,000. With eMLC, write cycles of 30,000 per bit can be achieved. Q. Has specific analysis been conducted on what applications and relative data can be cached at the server versus at the storage controller (tolerance for latency, user patience, etc.)? A. This varies but server caching will typically be used for applications with the most hot spots such as databases. If there is a particular requirement for ultra low latency such as in OLTP environments, server caching may be appropriate. Server caching can also yield significant benefit to increase VM density. Generally, server caching will be deployed to accelerate a specific application while storage controller caching will be used to accelerate storage which is shared across multiple applications. Q. Does the data running over the network storage PDUs or Ethernet Layer2/IP traffic? A. Ethernet Layer 2 in this demo, thought it could have been scaled to for L3 IP routed traffic. Q. What is the difference between flash tier and flash cache? A. A flash tier is persistent storage whereby datasets are pinned to flash technology for some period of time (or permanently). In Automated Storage Tiering, data may be migrated to and from the flash tier based on the temperature of the data. A flash cache, on the other hand is a caching technology in which the most frequently accessed data is copied to flash for data access but then evicted as the data cools down. Data is copied to the flash cache either on the basis of calculated data temperature or on a first-in first-out basis. Q. Given the large advantages of flash on power (direct), cooling, and DC footprint, why do enterprise data centers not just completely switch out their HDDs? It seems like there is a good ROI even without considering performance. Is it the operational complexities that make this challenging? A. For many applications, this is not cost justified given the significant price difference of the SSD and HDD devices. Since hot data typically amounts to less than 20% of total data, a small amount of flash can be deployed successfully. In the caching case, this can be around 1%.

Our recent Webcast: NFSv4.1 – Plan for a Smooth Migration was very well received and well attended. We thank everyone who was able to make the live event. For those of you who couldn’t make it, it’s now available on demand. Check it out here.

There wasn’t enough time to respond to all of the questions during the Webcast, so we have consolidated answers to all of them in this blog post from the presentation team. Feel free to comment and provide your input.

Q. Will NFS 4.2 be any easier to migrate to than 4.1? Would it be worth waiting for?

A. NFSv4.2 is a set of additional functionality that will be easy to take advantage of – if you’re on NFSv4.1. The first move is to NFSv4.1, as it offers a wealth of features over and above NFSv3. Waiting for NFSv4.2 features wouldn’t be advisable; it’s unlikely to be ratified until the end of 2012, and enterprise server solutions and the required downstream client distributions will be a lot further out than that.

Q. Since NFS 4.1 is out, what is the uptake in the industry?

A. There aren’t any global figures, since not all suppliers collect detailed information about protocol usage, and of those that do, many can’t differentiate between NFS versions. Anecdotally, it’s slow. That’s because NFSv4.1 servers (particularly for file-layout) have only been available for less than a year, and the needed Linux client support has only recently made it through to the enterprise distributions.. NFSv4 (as opposed to 4.1) is more widely used; but the only figures I have are anecdotal, and would be misleading.
Q. Are there any network architecture design considerations that need to be taken before implementing NFSv4.1?

A. No. In fact, (if you’re not using pNFS) NFSv4.1 should get you more “bang for your buck” as there’s a reduction in network traffic compared with NFSv3. pNFS requires a different architecture; your storage vendor should be able to assist in the planning.

Q. Clustered servers – you mentioned that vendors had to provide a special server for this… are these enhancements going to be ported into the general linux nfs server stream?

A. I’m not sure to what this refers; perhaps the MDS (metadata server)? Although this server is often shown as a separate box in diagrams for simplicity, that’s not how it is normally implemented. The MDS is normally part of the cluster running on one or more fo the data servers.

Q. If you recommend AD for kerberos, do all of the NFS clients need to be joined to the same AD domain as well? Or only the servers?

A. Any time a client in one domain (or realm) attempts to access a server, the server must be in the same realm as the client, or if it’s in another realm, there must be cross realm trust so that the principal (the client) can be correctly authenticated.

Q. Can you talk about any difficulties in using Active Directory with NFS? Are there changes needed on AD?

A. No changes are needed to AD. It’s relatively straightforward security administration, and storage vendors should be able to provide you with implementation checklists.

Q. What is the impact on clustering and failover by introducing statefulness?

A. Significant! And much better. Recovery is much improved, as the server and client after a failure can attempt to agree on what locks were held, what files were open, what data had been written and so on. It’s a big improvement on NFSv3.

Q. Will it be possible to mount root file systems from NFSV4? Like boot from the SAN that we already have in FC or iSCSI?

A. Yes, that doesn’t change.

Q. Can you explain the reasons why home dir and hpc would benefit with v4.1?

A. Home directories are an easy win; no application (well, at least that you care about) and easily migrated. The same is often true of HPC. For example where the data is transient – served from a store to local disk, computed and crunched, and then sent back to the store – the store could be migrated to NFSv4 and the app later; or the app first and the store later.

Our recent Webcast: NFSv4.1 – Plan for a Smooth Migration was very well received and well attended. We thank everyone who was able to make the live event. For those of you who couldn't make it, it's now available on demand. Check it out here. There wasn't enough time to respond to all of the questions during the Webcast, so we have consolidated answers to all of them in this blog post from the presentation team. Feel free to comment and provide your input. Q. Will NFS 4.2 be any easier to migrate to than 4.1? Would it be worth waiting for? A. NFSv4.2 is a set of additional functionality that will be easy to take advantage of – if you're on NFSv4.1. The first move is to NFSv4.1, as it offers a wealth of features over and above NFSv3. Waiting for NFSv4.2 features wouldn't be advisable; it's unlikely to be ratified until the end of 2012, and enterprise server solutions and the required downstream client distributions will be a lot further out than that. Q. Since NFS 4.1 is out, what is the uptake in the industry? A. There aren't any global figures, since not all suppliers collect detailed information about protocol usage, and of those that do, many can't differentiate between NFS versions. Anecdotally, it's slow. That's because NFSv4.1 servers (particularly for file-layout) have only been available for less than a year, and the needed Linux client support has only recently made it through to the enterprise distributions.. NFSv4 (as opposed to 4.1) is more widely used; but the only figures I have are anecdotal, and would be misleading. Q. Are there any network architecture design considerations that need to be taken before implementing NFSv4.1? A. No. In fact, (if you're not using pNFS) NFSv4.1 should get you more "bang for your buck" as there's a reduction in network traffic compared with NFSv3. pNFS requires a different architecture; your storage vendor should be able to assist in the planning. Q. Clustered servers - you mentioned that vendors had to provide a special server for this... are these enhancements going to be ported into the general linux nfs server stream? A. I'm not sure to what this refers; perhaps the MDS (metadata server)? Although this server is often shown as a separate box in diagrams for simplicity, that's not how it is normally implemented. The MDS is normally part of the cluster running on one or more fo the data servers. Q. If you recommend AD for kerberos, do all of the NFS clients need to be joined to the same AD domain as well? Or only the servers? A. Any time a client in one domain (or realm) attempts to access a server, the server must be in the same realm as the client, or if it's in another realm, there must be cross realm trust so that the principal (the client) can be correctly authenticated. Q. Can you talk about any difficulties in using Active Directory with NFS? Are there changes needed on AD? A. No changes are needed to AD. It's relatively straightforward security administration, and storage vendors should be able to provide you with implementation checklists. Q. What is the impact on clustering and failover by introducing statefulness? A. Significant! And much better. Recovery is much improved, as the server and client after a failure can attempt to agree on what locks were held, what files were open, what data had been written and so on. It's a big improvement on NFSv3. Q. Will it be possible to mount root file systems from NFSV4? Like boot from the SAN that we already have in FC or iSCSI? A. Yes, that doesn't change. Q. Can you explain the reasons why home dir and hpc would benefit with v4.1? A. Home directories are an easy win; no application (well, at least that you care about) and easily migrated. The same is often true of HPC. For example where the data is transient – served from a store to local disk, computed and crunched, and then sent back to the store – the store could be migrated to NFSv4 and the app later; or the app first and the store later.

SNIA is proud to participate at the Intel Developers Forum this week at Moscone West In San Francisco.  Our booth in the NVM Express Community area focuses on SNIA and SSSI work in non volatile memory. Attendees are very interested in the newly launched SNIA NVM Programming Technical Work Group (NVMp TWG). The purpose of the NVMp TWG is to create specifications which will provide guidance to operating system, device driver, and application developers to be able to accelerate the availability of hardware-enabling Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) software.  A concrete example is database software which can use NVM to assure the database is available quickly after a system reboot. The TWG will develop two specifications. The first is for NVM Extensions between OS Components. The work on a first version is starting now with an expected completion of about Q4’12.  The second specification is for NVM Application Extensions; with the first version expected Q2’13. The Solid State Storage Initiative (SSSI) will  provide marketing and outreach support to the NVMp TWG, extending its educational mission. The NVMp TWG is supported by EMC, Fusion-io, HP, Intel (also chairs the TWG), LSI, NetApp, Oracle, Samsung, SanDisk, Seagate, Symantec, Toshiba, Virident, and VMware.  More companies are in the process of joining SNIA and the SSSI. If you are interested in the NVMp TWG, and/or want more information on SSSI activities  visit www.snia.org/forums/sssi

SNIA is proud to participate at the Intel Developers Forum this week at Moscone West In San Francisco.  Our booth in the NVM Express Community area focuses on SNIA and SSSI work in non volatile memory.

Attendees are very interested in the newly launched SNIA NVM Programming Technical Work Group (NVMp TWG).

The purpose of the NVMp TWG is to create specifications which will provide guidance to operating system, device driver, and application developers to be able to accelerate the availability of hardware-enabling Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) software.  A concrete example is database software which can use NVM to assure the database is available quickly after a system reboot.

The TWG will develop two specifications. The first is for NVM Extensions between OS Components. The work on a first version is starting now with an expected completion of about Q4’12.  The second specification is for NVM Application Extensions; with the first version expected Q2’13.

The Solid State Storage Initiative (SSSI) will  provide marketing and outreach support to the NVMp TWG, extending its educational mission.

The NVMp TWG is supported by EMC, Fusion-io, HP, Intel (also chairs the TWG), LSI, NetApp, Oracle, Samsung, SanDisk, Seagate, Symantec, Toshiba, Virident, and VMware.  More companies are in the process of joining SNIA and the SSSI.

If you are interested in the NVMp TWG, and/or want more information on SSSI activities  visit www.snia.org/forums/sssi

There’s no doubt that flash is a game changer. Even a relatively small percentage of flash can drive a significant improvement in peak storage performance. How are you planning for the disruption? Join me and my SNIA colleague, Paul Feresten, for a live Webcast next week, Thursday, September 20th (11:00 a.m. ET, 8:00 am. PT) as we discuss the impact of flash. We’ll take a look at how flash is being deployed in storage systems, key considerations and tradeoffs, performance benefits, trends in non-volatile memory and more. And because it’s live we’ll take your questions on the spot. We hope to see you there. Register now.