SNIA IP Storage Forum at NetWorld+Interop Las Vegas; Members of New Forum to Demonstrate Products and Technology for IP Storage

Business Wire, May 4, 2001

Business/High-Tech Editors

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 2001

Members of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) IP Storage Forum will showcase new products and technology demonstrations at the Networld Interop conference in Las Vegas next week, May 7-10.

The demonstrations will feature storage solutions that utilize the TCP and IP protocols that drive the Internet. The forum was formed in February this year to expand market awareness of IP storage and its benefits.

Consistent with the mission of the SNIA IP Storage Forum to market and promote standards-based block storage networking solutions using IP networks, forum members will demonstrate products and technologies at their respective booths. IP storage technologies that will be demonstrated include iSCSI, FCIP and iFCP. iSCSI -- Internet SCSI or the common SCSI protocol over TCP/IP and Ethernet -- enables native end-to-end storage solutions using Gigabit Ethernet for host to storage interconnect and extension into the larger IP-based Internet. FCIP -- Fibre Channel over Internet Protocol -- provides for the interconnection of existing Fibre Channel SANs over Internet distances. iFCP -- Internet Fibre Channel Protocol -- enables the interconnection of Fibre Channel devices over an IP network with or without and existing SAN.

IP storage technologies will allow new storage solutions that will take advantage of the pervasive use of the industry-standard Internet Protocol. Applications for IP storage include remote mirroring and backup, distributed Internet Data Centers, storage service provisioning and transparent LAN/MAN/WAN storage networks.

A directory will be available at the SNIA booth (No. 7419) and at member company booths so visitors can easily locate the demonstrations and learn more about this emerging storage technology. The directory can also be accessed online at http://www.nishansystems.com/ips/IPSN I_Directory_01.PDF. The SNIA IP Storage Forum includes more than 55 member companies.

About the SNIA

The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) is a not-for-profit organization made up of over 200 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. To this end the SNIA is uniquely committed to delivering standards, education and services that will propel open storage networking solutions into the broader market. For information, contact the SNIA at 650/949-6720 or via e-mail at executivedirector@snia.org, or visit the SNIA web site at http://www.snia.org.