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SNIA Announces SMI-S Version 1.3
October 2008 by Marc Jacob
The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) announced the availability of the Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) version 1.3. SMI-S version 1.3 provides new support for storage virtualization, adding support for virtual tape libraries and NAS file servers, management of Storage Area Network (SAN) security and support for Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) controller cards. Originally announced in version 1.2 of SMI-S, view class support has been extended to include Fibre Channel switches in version 1.3 to further enhance SMI-S solutions by speeding up discovery and monitoring larger device configurations.
In conjunction with release of version 1.3 of SMI-S, SNIA has also launched supporting conformance tests to ensure the specification is adopted in products with a high degree of interoperability and robustness. The first of the SMI-S committed vendors to pass the SNIA Conformance Testing Program (SNIA-CTP) provider suite for SMI-S version 1.3 storage management include EMC Corporation, Hitachi Data Systems and HP. Other conforming products will be published on the SNIA CTP webpage. Additional tests for different types of storage products, such as tape libraries and storage virtualizers will complete the CTP testing suite as soon as validated by vendors contributing to SMI-S CTP developments.
In addition to new conformance tests, the SNIA has launched a new series of plugfests at the SNIA Technology Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The plugfests allow the industry to actively work together to improve SMI-S technology with actual hardware and management software. SMI-S plugfests are scheduled for October 2008, February 2009, and April 2009.
