October 2001
The Storage Networking Industry Association has honored HP Labs
Scientist John Wilkes with an "Outstanding Contributions Award"
for his work on the SNIA Shared Storage Model.
Wilkes, an HP researcher since 1982, was the lead and chief author
on the Shared Storage Model project to create a way to compare storage
system architectures and communicate about them in a common vocabulary.
Describing storage architectures graphically
The model can be used as a framework to capture the functional
layers and properties of a storage system, regardless of the underlying
design, product or installation. It may be used to describe common
storage architectures graphically, while exposing what services
are provided, where interoperability is required and the pros and
cons of each potential architecture.
Wilkes is one of nine members of SNIA's Technical Council, which
the association describes as "a select group of acknowledged
industry experts." In addition to guiding the SNIA's technical
efforts, this group creates a high-level roadmap for the storage
network industry.
Data storage as a utility
The SNIA's key purpose is to communicate the benefits of shared
storage -- a storage system comprising many
computer systems that are the consumers of the storage system, many
storage devices and extensive management capabilities, all interconnected
richly and with the necessary high performance.
The goal is to turn the data storage system as a whole into a
truly ubiquitous, dependable service - a utility. This service will
ensure that your data is available whenever and where ever you need
it.
Wilkes' research
Wilkes is part of HP's Internet Systems and Storage Lab. His research
encompasses the design and management of fast, highly available,
distributed-storage systems.
In the past, he has worked on network architectures (the Hamlyn
sender-based message model), OS design (most recently in the Brevix
project), and in running the program committee for the ACM Symposium
on Operating Systems Principles (SOSP'99). He has published a number
of papers in these areas.
by Jamie Beckett
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