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The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) has said that it will unveil a breakthrough demonstration of SAN management interoperability at the October Storage Networking World conference in Orlando, Florida October 27-30.
The SNIA will demonstrate CIM-SAN-1, a SAN managed through a single management backbone built on Common Information Model (CIM) and Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) technology.
The CIM-SAN-1 demonstration will be part of the SNW Interoperability and Solutions Demo in the “Managing Your Storage Network” solution area. The SNW demonstration will leverage the success of the first plugfest for CIM-SAN-1 in July, during which vendors collaborated at the SNIA Technology Center in Colorado Springs to build a multi-vendor SAN comprised of CIM-managed HBA’s, switches, routers, libraries, and arrays. A second plugfest for CIM-SAN-1 is scheduled for October 1-4 at the SNIA Technology Center and will involve the integration of multiple management clients with storage networking devices that comprise a multi-vendor SAN configuration.
“Groundbreaking demonstrations like CIM-SAN-1 and the supporting plugfests enable SNIA members to work towards and achieve the goal of simplifying storage management for users,” said Brad Stamas, chairman of the SNIA. “This initiative also combines the efforts and successes of many SNIA groups, including multiple Technical Work Groups and the Interoperability Committee.”
The CIM-SAN-1 demonstration introduces technology for SAN management interoperability based on the Bluefin specification, which was recently adopted by the SNIA as the initial development focus for the organization’s Storage Management Initiative (SMI). Included in the Bluefin specification are security, locking, and discovery features for SAN management. The SNIA is using Bluefin to develop a standard management interface to be adopted by vendors for use in their products. Once the standard has been developed, the SNIA will also work closely with end users on specific configurations to enable ease of adoption and integration into their existing networks.
According to the SNIA, the rapid progress of CIM-SAN-1 is due to the active involvement of the SNIA member participants in the plugfests, including: AppIQ, BMC Software, Brocade, Computer Associates, Crossroads Systems, EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, HP, IBM Corporation, INRANGE Technologies; InterSAN Inc., LSI Logic, Prisa Networks, QLogic, Quantum Corporation, Sun Microsystems, and VERITAS Software.
In addition to the CIM-SAN-1 demonstration at Storage Networking World, the SNIA will also host a presentation and panel titled “The SNIA Storage Management Initiative and CIM-SAN-1” on October 29.The SNIA also announced that it will host an educational conference on storage networking security, September 24-26, at the SNIA Technology Center in Colorado Springs, CO.
According to the SNIA, the Security Summit will be the first industry conference of its kind that focuses exclusively on storage networking security. Top storage security experts from both the public and private sectors will gather to present tutorials as well as discuss how industry players can work together to advance storage networking security.
“At our summit, we plan to address the needs of everyone involved in storage networking security,” said Arnold Jones, SNIA technical director. “From CEOs to CTOs, to engineers to integrators and consultants, we have created the opportunity to make every opinion count.”
The summit will feature a Town Hall meeting, an open forum for all summit participants to discuss the storage networking industry’s role in developing more secure storage products and solutions. Dennis Martin, Senior Partner of the Evaluator Group, will facilitate the meeting to develop a list of action steps for members of the storage networking community to implement over the next year.
