Storage Focus Turns to Making Products Work Together

In a major step toward implementing the new Fibre Channel SAN protocol within IT systems, a standard interface was announced last week at the Storage Networking World Conference in Orlando.

The Host Bus Adapter (HBA) application programming interface (API), a critical ingredient to connecting systems and storage devices to more efficient Fibre Channel links, was announced by the Fibre Channel Work Group of the SNIA. Fibre Channel is a SAN protocol that increases connectivity over traditional SCSI connections.

The new standard could help independent software vendors deliver greater functionality to consumers more quickly by using a single standardized interface.

The need for standardized interfaces is increasing as SANs continue to grow, according to the group.

Robert Gray, an analyst at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass., said standards are needed for every transport protocol so users can efficiently implement the technologies. "It's just another positive step forward for the whole storage network concept and marketing," said Gray.

The announcement was the first phase of the group's continuing efforts to adopt new standards to enhance the use and manageability of SANs.

The HBA API standard is being supported by about 25 vendors and industry groups, including Adaptec Inc., Agilent Technologies Inc., the Fibre Channel Industry Association, and Hewlett-Packard Co.