Reflections on the SNIA

DALLAS -- Storage Networking World -- If it's SNW, it's time for an update on the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). This time out, the news includes a new mission statement, aimed at broadening the SNIA to "reach beyond the traditional storage market and into the broader technology and IT industry."

Here's the exact wording:

Surely, that's one of the noblest, most politically correct -- and dullest -- missions in storagedom. A perfect match for the activities of this group. Some of the SNIA's literature, at least, is a guaranteed soporific for traveling IT pros who can't sleep comfortably in hotel rooms.

"SNIA always comes to me with news of this and that project that may become a standard 900 years from now," said one industry analyst.

But is that as far as it goes? Is the SNIA unfairly criticized? After all, this is an industry organization, and if it's boring and slow, the industry has only itself to blame.SNIA's work is laudable and important. At least, that's the view of several storage pros on the street at this week's SNW event. "Without the SNIA, we don't have the ability to come together and have a voice," says Marlon Smith, a manager at EDS who attended this week's show. "I think it's important that we have that."

Much of the group's work is also intriguing. This week, for instance, the SNIA showcased its first multivendor demonstration of the eXtensible Access Method (XAM) specification, an interface that keeps archiving and meta-data functions independent of specific vendors' storage platforms. EMC, HP, Sun, and Vignette, a vendor of Web content management software and services, demonstrated four applications based on XAM at the SNW Solutions Center here.

The SNIA's SMI-S work is proceeding apace. There's also a new SNIA Green Storage Initiative, aimed at defining best practices for "energy efficient data center storage operations." Who would argue with that?

Perhaps that's the problem. The SNIA isn't in the position to create or foment argument. Expecting it to do so is unrealistic. The SNIA is about consensus, and that takes time and is apt to soften the edges of some technologies.

At least one vendor thinks the SNIA's function is one of setting a baseline, not setting the world on fire. "Each vendor finds a piece of the SNIA that's important to them," said Mike Koclanes, chief strategy officer at Plasmon, during an interview this week. "Their standards are as effective as any other standards. Each gives you a model you can build from and keeps you from going off on tangents. But if you relied on SNIA, you'd miss your market opportunity."Bottom line? The SNIA serves a purpose that can't be discounted. For those who think otherwise, maybe it's time to reset expectations.Have a comment on this story? Please click "Discuss" below. If you'd like to contact Byte and Switch's editors directly, send us a message.