The SCSI Trade Association (SCSITA), a member-run industry association established to support and promote SCSI technology, has announced that the seventh Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Plugfest was held July 23-27, 2007, at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL). Both STA member and non-member companies attended the Plugfest.
Tests made available to attendees included:
- Single zoning
- Multiple zones
- Interoperability of Serial ATA (SATA) drives in an SAS environment
According to Mike Fitzpatrick, senior research executive at Fujitsu Computer Products of America and chairman of the SAS Plugfest Technical Committee, "Since the first SAS Plugfest in March 2004, SAS technology has made great strides in functionality, SATA interoperability and acceptance by the storage market. The recent plugfest continued SAS product fine-tuning with results that indicate the successful completion of the first generation of SAS. Particularly significant were the results of zone testing, because zoning is becoming an important part of data management within a SAS datacenter."
Backward compatibility is key to the SAS user's ability to easily mix and match SAS and SATA technologies and to flexibly maximize storage cost. In the interest of backward compatibility, 3Gb/s SAS will be tested at several future plugfests, including those where 6Gb/s SAS will also be tested. It is essential that 3Gb/s SAS be compatible with 6Gb/s SAS as well as the earlier 1.5Gb/s SATA. The next SAS plugfest is anticipated for early 2008 when 6Gb/s SAS products start to become more widely available.
STA member companies attending the plugfest included: Adaptec, AIC/Xtore, Emulex, Finisar, Fujitsu CPA, Intel, LeCroy, LSI, Marvell Semiconductor, PMC-Sierra and 3ware.
The SCSI Trade Association was established in 1995 to provide a focal point for members to communicate the benefits of SCSI to the industry.
For more information, visit www.scsita.org.
