Fibre Channel Industry Association Unveils Strategic Technology Roadmap; ``Roadmap Provides Template for Fibre Channel Industry
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 1999--The Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) announced today the release of its technology roadmap -- designed to strategically address the issues of Fibre Channel interoperability and standardization.
The FCIA's technology roadmap, which was created by a team of FCIA experts with input from leading members of the NCITS (National Committee for Information Technology Standards) T11 committee, provides a blueprint for the technical development and future issues surrounding Fibre Channel technology.
"We have successfully created an industry roadmap for members of the Fibre Channel community to utilize for product development planning, as well as assist in integrating Fibre Channel technology," remarks Paul Boulay, FCIA Technology Roadmap Committee Chairperson. "In addition, the FCIA's technical committee predicts even higher bandwidth rates -- ranging from 200 MB/s to 24 GB/s, by the year 2004."
Fibre Channel technology will achieve tremendous bandwidth rates and scalability during the next five years due to technological evolution in the semiconductor, optical transceiver and protocol processing chip industries. While the capability of Fibre Channel is projected to increase each year as solutions demand even higher performance levels, the devices and infrastructure components will not require change -- but will remain functional and useful into the future.
The FCIA's technology roadmap also addresses connectivity and interoperability issues. As the organization continues to work toward increasing interoperability among vendors/products, the technology roadmap provides a forward-thinking plan to ensure its success. One method in which the FCIA is working toward increasing interoperability is through its SANMark program, a series of tests used to verify compliance with the specifications. The goal of the SANMark program is to ensure the highest level of interoperability in an open, heterogeneous Fibre Channel environment.
Fibre Channel is continually evolving to meet the needs of the IT community and enable advanced system architecture. In addition, it remains the foundation and key enabling technology for Storage Area Networks (SANs). "Fibre Channel is a key technology that will enable the future of open systems data infrastructure," concludes Boulay. "It delivers an interoperable, scalable structure with a solid technology base that will meet the requirements of emerging standards in the future."
The following companies are participating in the FCIA's Fibre Channel Solutions pavilion in room N250, located on the second level of the convention center:
Agilent, AMCC, AMP, Amphenol, Ancor Communications, Ancot, ATTO Technology, Bell Microproducts, Brocade Communications, Chaparral Network Storage, Charismac Engineering, Cielo Communications, CMD Technology, Connex, Consan, Data General CLARiiON, Dot Hill Systems, ECCS, Emulex, Eurologic Systems, FCI Berg, Finisar, Fujitsu CPA, Gadzoox Networks, Hitachi Data Systems, Hitachi CPA, I-TECH, I/O Interconnect, IBM, Infortrend Technology, Interphase, JNI, Kingston Technology, LSI Logic, Madison Cable, McDATA, Methode Electronics, Molex, MTI, nStor, OneofUs, Online Technologies Group, OSFI, Pro Stor Japan, QLogic, Quantum, SanCastle Technologies, Seagate Technology, Spectra Logic, StorageTek, Sun Microsystems, Trimm Technologies, Veritas Software, Vitesse Semiconductor, Vixel and Xyratex.
About The FCIA
The Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) is an international organization of manufacturers, systems integrators, developers, systems vendors, industry professionals, and end users. With more than 175 members and affiliates in the United States, Europe and Japan, the FCIA is committed to delivering a broad base of Fibre Channel infrastructure to support a wide array of industry applications within the mass storage and IT-based arenas. FCIA Working Groups focus on specific aspects of the technology that target both vertical and horizontal markets, including storage, video, networking and SAN Management. For information, please contact the Fibre Channel Industry Association at (415) 750-8355 or via e-mail at fca@fibrechannel.com, or visit the FCIA web site at fibrechannel.com.
CONTACT:
Chan & Associates Inc.
Robin Schnug, 714/447-4993
rschnug@chanandassoc.com
or
FCIA Communications Chairperson
Mimi Howard, 408/970-7735
mimi.howard@hds.com |
