Connectathon '07
Introduction to Connectathon
Connectathon is the premier industry event for storage interoperability. Each year, storage developers from all vendors gather to drive standards, and to test their solutions with each other. Customers benefit from the interoperability resulting from the collaboration among these vendors. Sun Microsystems has sponsored Connectathon for 20 years.The Network File System (NFS) is the predominate technology tested at Connectathon, with the focus on NFSv4.1 (http://www1.ietf.org/html.charters/nfsv4-charter.html). Other technologies tested include NFSv2 and v3, NDMP, CIFS, and Secure Shell.
How Connectathon Works
For each technology, a Technology Coordinator is identified to coordinate testing throughout the event. A kickoff meeting is held to gather participants and review testing strategies. During the event, participants perform their tests, identify and work through issues identified, and collaborate on future interoperability topics. Participants use the Connectathon Billboard software to identify tests and track test results for each technology.In addition to testing, attendees give presentations on technology and standards advancements, both within their company and across the industry, as well as within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Presentations are open to the general public, not just Connectathon registrants. Presentations for the current event, along with many years prior, are posted on the Connectathon web site at http://www.connectathon.org/talks07/index.html.
Connectathon 2007
Connectathon 2007 was held February 2nd through the 8th at Parkside Hall in San Jose, California. We returned to this venue and a full eight days of testing following last year's event at Sun's Santa Clara Campus. This year's event was attended by engineers from Apple, Attachmate, CITI (University of Michigan), Commvault, Data Domain, EMC, Hewlett Packard, Hummingbird, IBM, Network Appliance, Panasas, Red Hat, Samba, SGI, Sun Microsystems, and VanDyke Software.This year, Sun demonstrated successful pNFS client interoperability against a Solaris and Linux server, and successful pNFS server interoperability against Solaris, Linux, Network Appliance, and Panasas clients. A number of NDMP servers were tested against Commvault's NDMP client. The Samba team coordinated CIFS client and server testing among multiple vendors. ISCSI testing was dropped due to insufficient participation, and will be reevaluated for inclusion in next year's event. There were many familiar attendees this year from each vendor, and we welcomed Apple's return to the event.
Connectathon 2008
Connectathon 2008 will be held in San Jose once again, exact location and dates are being determined, but late February is likely. We expect an increased coverage of NFSv4.1 features, and seek increased participation from the CIFS and Network Attached Storage (NAS) communities. We plan to broadened our marketing communications through direct marketing to past and potential attendees, and advertising in key publications and Internet sites.How to Participate
Connectathon's success comes from regular and active participation by all vendors delivering networked data technologies. Technology owners should be subject matter experts, and can and should come from any vendor participating in the event. Vendors should begin planning their participation no later than the Fall time frame prior to the event, securing funding and equipment for registration, travel, and testing. Vendors are strongly encouraged to present on technology trends. Presentations should not commercially promote a company's products. Vendors should help grow the storage community through evangelizing the event both within and outside their organizations.Watch the Connectathon web site (http://www.connectathon.org) starting in September 2007 for information on Connectathon 2008, including registration and technologies being tested.
Posted at 09:37AM Apr 05, 2007 by Don Traub in General |