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Storage Bridge Bay Working Group Issues 2.0 Specification

Increasing commonality of the physical form factor

In a move that furthers engineering design
improvements and increases end-user customer benefits, the
Storage Bridge
Bay Working Group (SBB) announced the completion and
public
availability of the SBB 2.0 Specification. The newly ratified
specification defines increased commonality of the physical
form factor of
Storage Bridge Bay slots and canisters — enabling faster
introduction of
new storage technologies across a broader selection of storage
solution
providers.

The SBB additionally announced that Sun Microsystems, Inc.
has joined as a
Promoter Member and as a member of the Board of Directors
which also
includes Dell, EMC, IBM, Intel, LSI, Network Appliance,
and Xyratex.

"I’m happy to see the SBB initiative progressing," said
Steve Duplessie,
founder and senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group.
"Ultimately having
standard form factors and interconnects will allow storage
manufacturers to
concentrate on higher value functionality and should decrease
their costs.
Users will benefit by finally getting some standardization
."

The SBB 2.0 Specification is designed as a reference guide
for storage
system designers desiring a higher level of compatibility
for their storage
solutions — while still allowing for differentiation and
value-add. By
standardizing physical, electrical and enclosure management
characteristics
of the controller slot and the controller module, the SBB
specification
enables storage providers to more rapidly introduce new
technologies to
end-user customers across a variety of enclosures. With
the proper level
of integration work between vendors, SBB 2.0-based storage
enclosures and
controller modules can be combined in various ways, giving
end-user
customers a wider choice of storage solutions.

"The growth of the SBB ecosystem is a clear indication of
the significant
value this standardized electromechanical controller interface
brings to
the industry
," said Bill Dawkins, chairman of the SBB Working
Group.
"Standardized storage products are available more quickly,
giving customers
more choices, higher value and a wider range of technology
features.
System providers can look forward to seeing further updates
as the
specification matures.
"

Since the original SBB 1.0 ratification in September 2006,
the total
membership has grown 39 percent from 31 to 43 members. Additionally,
the
number of SBB products and prototypes shown at Fall Storage
Networking
World (SNW) increased by 67 percent compared to the previous
SNW show. The
SBB Working Group expects to see an increasing number of
SBB-based products
introduced by member companies throughout 2008.

In addition to the Promoter Members listed above, the SBB
Working Group is
currently supported by the following Contributor Members:
Accusys,
Adaptec, AIC, ADM, AMCC, Aristos Logic, Astute Networks,
Celestica, Chenbro
Micom, Ciprico, Digi-Data, Dot Hill Systems, Emulex, EqualLogic,
Honhai
Precision Industry Co. (Foxconn Technology Group), Infortrend
Technology,
Inspur (Beijing) Electronic Information Industry Co., Inventec
Enterprise
System Corporation, iStor Networks, Lanner Electronics,
Mellanox
Technologies, MiTAC International, NEC, Neterion, Newisys
Data Storage,
Nextronics Engineering Corp. (Leanpac Division), PMC-Sierra,
Promise
Technology, Qsan Technology, Quanta Computer, RASILIENT
Systems, Seagate,
Tyco Electronics, Universal Scientific Industrial Co., and
Wistron.

SBB Working Group

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