(SUNW) Network Appliance and Sun Microsystems Collaborate on Next-Generation System Area Network Technology
SUNNYVALE, Calif. & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–June 24, 2003–
Aim to Make RDMA File Access Near Wire Speed on 10Gb/s Transports
Network Appliance, Inc. (Nasdaq:NTAP) and Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq:SUNW) announced today that the companies have entered a wide-ranging technical collaboration focused on delivering the highest possible throughput from 10Gb/s transports thereby accelerating data exchange between computers of the future.
The Network File System (NFS) is the premier industry standard for file sharing between computers. It has evolved significantly since its first use nearly 20 years ago. This collaboration between Network Appliance and Sun consolidates key initiatives designed to accelerate the speed and throughput of data sharing for everyone. Both companies will work together within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) process to bring Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) capabilities to current and future versions of NFS.
This joint effort between the two companies builds upon:
— Sun’s work within the Storage Network Industry Association
(SNIA) on RDMA for NFSv3
— Network Appliance’s work within the DAFS Consortium on the
Direct Access File System (DAFS) protocol
— Both companies’ work within the DAT Collaborative and the Open
Group Interconnect Software Consortium on platform-independent
APIs for RDMA transports and also significant work within the
IETF on NFS.
For customers, this technical collaboration is designed to protect their existing investment, while facilitating data center migration to a scalable, standards-based, high-performance computing environment.
“NFS technology was developed and introduced by Sun almost two decades ago. It has since then become an industry standard for network file sharing. RDMA file access is fundamentally important for mission-critical data center environments,” said Glenn Weinberg, Director of Software Engineering at Sun Microsystems. “RDMA technology will enable Sun to further accelerate NFS to achieve lightning fast data sharing. We are delighted to be working so closely with Network Appliance on a range of important initiatives.”
“Network Appliance has believed for some time that using RDMA for file access is a big win, hence our involvement in the DAFS initiative. NFSv4 was the starting point for DAFS, and our intention from the outset was to merge those new capabilities back into NFS. This collaboration with Sun is a great step forward towards that goal and represents another choice we’re offering customers as they evaluate their IT architecture needs,” said Steve Kleiman, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Network Appliance. “We remain committed to DAFS and our DAFS partners, and look forward to providing compatible high-performance storage solutions well into the future.”
About Network Appliance
Network Appliance is a world leader in unified network storage solutions for today’s data-intensive enterprise. Since its inception in 1992, Network Appliance has delivered technology, product, and partner solutions that continue to drive “The evolution of storage(TM).” Information about Network Appliance(TM) solutions and services is available at www.netapp.com.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer(TM)” — has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq:SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com
Note to Editors: NetApp is a registered trademark and Network Appliance and The evolution of storage are trademarks of Network Appliance Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such.