SNIA FORMS NETWORK-ATTACHED STORAGE WORK GROUP.

The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) has formed a new work group dedicated to the development of educational programs and standards for network-attached storage (NAS).

NAS refers to storage devices that connect to a network and provide file access services to computer systems. NAS technology arose out of the need for easy storage expansion and networking, which is in turn being driven by the Internet and overall growth in computing.

>From physical connections to operational and well-managed storage services, the SNIA addresses the various aspects and formats of storage networks. NAS is one of the critical technologies. The SNIA's goal in establishing the NAS Work Group is to provide a forum in which users and vendors can build an understanding of NAS technologies and their operational and management issues, and define and promote NAS standardization.

"The level of commitment we have seen from SNIA members to make the new NAS working group a reality is another demonstration of the SNIA's role as the central organization for the storage networking industry," said Larry Krantz, chair of the SNIA and senior technologist at EMC. "The SNIA is actively working to develop efficient, complete and trusted storage solutions for IT professionals. Addressing NAS issues is critical to our success."

The NAS Work Group's key objectives, defined in the first working sessions, are to define a common terminology for NAS, develop benchmarks that accurately represent NAS, giving IT professionals a way to compare various NAS devices, document and standardize the CIFS protocol, identify NAS management strategies, that work in installed network and system management environments, and establish NAS support in multi-operating system environments.

Leading these efforts are Jeff Helthall of CrosStor, who chairs the NAS Work Group, Dave Desormeaux of Hewlett-Packard, Jim Norton of IBM, Homayoun Yousefi'zadeh of Procom Technology, Ron Brown of Realm Information Systems, Dan Williams of Hewlett-Packard, and Gary Singleton of ECCS. The following companies are active participants in the NAS Work Group:

--Auspex Systems, Inc.

--Axis Communications

--Connex, Inc., a Western Digital company

--CrosStor Software, Inc.

--Dell Computer Corporation

--ECCS, Inc.

--EMC Corporation

--Hewlett-Packard Company

--IBM Corporation

--LSI Logic Storage Systems, Inc.

--Microtest, Inc.

--Network Appliance, Inc.

--Procom Technology, Inc.

--Realm Information Technology

--Sun Microsystems, Inc.

--Quantum Corporation, Inc.

--VERITAS Software

Participation in this working group is open to all SNIA members interested in NAS.

About the SNIA

The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) is a not-for-profit organization, made up of 150 companies and individuals spanning virtually the entire storage industry. SNIA members share a common goal, to set the pace of the industry by ensuring that storage networks become efficient, complete, and trusted solutions across the IT community.

For more information, call 650/949-6720.