Recognize Volunteer Contributions – Nominations Open for the SNIA Individual and Group Recognition Program

Each year, at the Annual Members Symposium, SNIA members recognize their own – volunteers and organizations who have dedicated expertise and time to contribute to the important work done by SNIA technical work groups, committees, and initiatives.  SNIA recognizes with a “Volunteer of the Year” award an individual contributor  who has stepped up to help SNIA achieve new and groundbreaking work or significantly advanced an existing program.  Past winners have included Mark Carlson of Toshiba, Jim Ryan of Intel, and Alex McDonald of NetApp.  Wayne Adams accepting award finalWith the Exceptional Leadership award, SNIA recognizes an individual who has advanced a cause for SNIA leading to an impact on the industry or the Association.  Past winners have included Wayne Adams of EMC, Eric Hibbard of Hitachi, and Paul von Behren of Intel. SNIA also recognizes unsung heroes who work tirelessly under the radar expecting no attention but who in fact probably deserve more than the rest, and new contributors of the year who begin work in new areas.

SNIA also recognizes groups with several awards, including outstanding achievement of a SNIA Technology Community, significant contribution by a SNIA Committee or Regional Affiliate, significant impact by a previously existing SNIA Technical Work Group or Task Force, and contributions by new SNIA groups.  winners2Previous recipients have been acknowledged for their work in Persistent Memory, Solid State Storage, Storage Management, and Object Drives, and with SNIA India and the SNIA Global Steering Committee.  A list of all individuals and groups recognized since 2008 can be found at http://www.snia.org/about/awards.

Also at the Annual Members Symposium, SNIA honors Deborah Kay Johnson, a SNIA member whose volunteer dedication to educating the industry on technology left a lasting impact, with the Deborah Kay Johnson Memorial Award.  Past winners of this award for their outstanding contributions to education include Charles Tasse, Dell; Nancy Clay, SNIA; and David Deming, Solution Technology; all recipients are listed at http://www.snia.org/about/awards/dkj.

It’s time for the 2016 awards, and SNIA encourages all members to enter their nominations for both individual and group categories.  The window to submit is open until December 9 and your selections can be made at this link.  Awards will be announced during the SNIA Annual Members Symposium, January 17-20, 2017, at the Westin San Jose.  Register here to attend the Symposium and view the agenda.

SNIA Puts the You in YouTube

Did you know that SNIA has a YouTube Channel?  SNIAVideo is the place designed for You to visit for the latest technical and educational content – all free to download – from SNIA thought leaders and events. youtube channel

Our latest videos cover a wide range of topics discussed at last month’s SNIA Storage Developer Conference.  Enjoy The Ride Cast video playlist where industry expert Marc Farley (@GoFarley) motors around Silicon Valley with SNIA member volunteers Richelle Ahlvers(@rahlvers), Stephen Bates (@stepbates), Mark Carlson(@macsun), and storage and solid state technology analysts Tom Coughlin (@ThomasaCoughlin), and Jim Handy chatting about persistent memory, SNIA Swordfish, NVMe, storage end users, and more.  You’ll also want to check out onsite interviews from Kinetic open storage project participants Seagate, Scality, and Open vStorage on their experiences at an SDC solutions plugfest.

Featured on the SNIAVideo YouTube Channel are SNIA thought leaders weighing in on the trends and activities that will revolutionize enterprise data centers and consumer applications over the next decade.  New ways to unify the management of storage and servers in hyperscale and cloud environments; an ecosystem driving system memory and storage into a single, unified “persistent memory” entity; and how security is being managed at enterprises today are just a few of the topics covered by speakers from Microsoft, Intel, Toshiba, Cryptsoft, and more.

you tube channel pictureBookmark our site and return often for fresh, new content on how SNIA helps You understand and solve the thorny storage issues facing your career and your organization.

SNIA Storage Developer Conference-The Knowledge Continues

SNIA’s 18th Storage Developer Conference is officially a success, with 124 general and breakout sessions;  Cloud Interoperability, Kinetiplugfest 5c Storage, and SMB3 plugfests; ten Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions, and amazing networking among 450+ attendees.  Sessions on NVMe over Fabrics won the title of most attended, but Persistent Memory, Object Storage, and Performance were right behind.  Many thanks to SDC 2016 Sponsors, who engaged attendees in exciting technology discussions.

For those not familiar with SDC, this technical industry event is designed for a variety of storage technologists at various levels from developers to architects to product managers and more.  And, true to SNIA’s commitment to educating the industry on current and future disruptive technologies, SDC content is now available to all – whether you attended or not – for download and viewing.

20160919_120059You’ll want to stream keynotes from Citigroup, Toshiba, DSSD, Los Alamos National Labs, Broadcom, Microsemi, and Intel – they’re available now on demand on SNIA’s YouTube channel, SNIAVideo.

All SDC presentations are now available for download; and over the next few months, you can continue to download SDC podcasts which combine audio and slides. The first podcast from SDC 2016 – on hyperscaler (as well as all 2015 SDC Podcasts) are available here, and more will be available in the coming weeks.

SNIA thanks all its members and colleagues who contributed to make SDC a success! A special thanks goes out to the SNIA Technical Council, a select group of acknowledged industry experts who work to guide SNIA technical efforts. In addition to driving the agenda and content for SDC, the Technical Council oversees and manages SNIA Technical Work Groups, reviews architectures submitted by Work Groups, and is the SNIA’s technical liaison to standards organizations. Learn more about these visionary leaders at http://www.snia.org/about/organization/tech_council.

And finally, don’t forget to mark your calendars now for SDC 2017 – September 11-14, 2017, again at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. Watch for the Call for Presentations to open in February 2017.

Podcasts Bring the Sounds of SNIA’s Storage Developer Conference to Your Car, Boat, Train, or Plane!

SNIA’s Storage Developer Conference (SDC) offers exactly what a developer of cloud, solid state, security, analytics, or big data applications is looking  for – rich technical content delivered in a no-vendor bias manner by today’s leading technologists.  The 2016 SDC agenda is being compiled, but now yousdc podcast pic can get a “sound bite” of what to expect by downloading  SDC podcasts via iTunes, or visiting the SDC Podcast site at http://www.snia.org/podcasts to download the accompanying slides and/or listen to the MP3 version.

Each podcast has been selected by the SNIA Technical Council from the 2015 SDC event, and include topics like:

  • Preparing Applications for Persistent Memory from Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • Managing the Next Generation Memory Subsystem from Intel Corporation
  • NVDIMM Cookbook – a Soup to Nuts Primer on Using NVDIMMs to Improve Your Storage Performance from AgigA Tech and Smart Modular Systems
  • Standardizing Storage Intelligence and the Performance and Endurance Enhancements It Provides from Samsung Corporation
  • Object Drives, a New Architectural Partitioning from Toshiba Corporation
  • Shingled Magnetic Recording- the Next Generation of Storage Technology from HGST, a Western Digital Company
  • SMB 3.1.1 Update from Microsoft

Eight podcasts are now available, with new ones added each week all the way up to SDC 2016 which begins September 19 at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara.  Keep checking the SDC Podcast website, and remember that registration is now open for the 2016 event at http://www.snia.org/events/storage-developer/registration.  The SDC conference agenda will be up soon at the home page of http://www.storagedeveloper.org.

Enjoy these great technical sessions, no matter where you may be!

Curious about Your Storage Knowledge? It’s a Quick “Test” with SNIA Storage Foundations Certification Practice Exam

Whether you’ve recently mastered the basics, or are a storage technology expert,  letting the industry know you are credentialed can (and probably should) be part of your career development process.  SNIA’s Storage Networking Certification Program (SNCP) provides a strong foundation of vendor-neutral, systems-level credentials that integrate with and complement individual vendor certifications. SNCP’s three knowledge “domains” – Concepts – Standards, and Solutions – each provide a standard by which your knowledge and skill set can be assessed on a consistent, industry-wide basis without any vendor specializations.Education_continuum_new_resize

Many storage professionals choose to begin with the SNIA Storage Foundations Certification, according to Michael Meleedy, SNIA’s Director of Education.  “The SNIA Foundations Exam (S10-110), newly revised to integrate new technologies and industry practices, is the entry-level exam within the SNIA Storage Networking Certification Program (SNCP),” Meleedy explained. “It has been widely accepted by the storage industry as the benchmark for basic vendor-neutral storage credentials.  In fact, vendors like Dell require this certification.”

Try the Practice Exam!

We recommend considering Spring as the best time to test your skills – and a NEW SNIA Storage Foundations Certification Practice exam makes it very easy.  This practice exam is short (easy to squeeze into your busy day) and the sample of questions from the real exam will help you quickly determine if you have the skills required to pass the industry’s only vendor-neutral certification exam. It’s open to everyone free of charge with the results available immediately.  Take the practice exam.

Why Should I Explore the SNCP?

Professionals often wonder about the real value of IT related certifications.  Is it worth your time and money to become certified?  “Yes, especially in today’s global marketplace,” said Paul Talbut, SNIA Global Education and Regional Affiliate Program Director. “SNIA certifications provide storage and data management practitioners worldwide with an industry recognised uniform standard by which individual knowledge and skill-sets can be judged.   We’re reaching a variety of professional audiences; for example, SNIA’s Foundations Exam is available both in English and Japanese, and is offered at all Prometric testing centers worldwide.”

Learn more about the new SNIA Foundations exam (S10–110) and study materials, the entire range of SNIA Certification Testing, and the six good reasons why you should be SNIA certified! Visit http://www.snia.org/education/certification.