Storage Bridge Bay Working Group Releases 2.1 Specs for 6Gb SAS

The Storage Bridge Bay Working Group (SBB) announced completion and public availability of the SBB 2.1 specification. The newly ratified specification addresses 6 Gb/s SAS (SAS-2) in addition to other additions, updates and clarifications.

The SBB Technical Subgroup (TSG), chaired by Jason Stuhlsatz at LSI, is now developing a follow on 2.x release of the specification, which will address supporting the 12 Gb/s speeds of SAS-3. In addition, the TSG has begun identification of the items that will be considered for SBB 3.0. Items that have been discussed to date include additional form factors, increased storage device count, and larger power profiles.

The SBB 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 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 2.1-based storage enclosures and controller modules can be combined in various ways, giving end-user customers a wider choice of storage solutions.

The SBB also announced the appointment of Bob Hansen, technical director for storage at NetApp, as the new chairman of the SBB Board of Directors. Hansen succeeds Dr. William Dawkins, senior technology strategist in Dell’s Office of the CTO.

"We look forward to Bob’s leadership and the perspective he will bring to the organization," said Walter E. Baker, administrator for the SBB. "Bob has been very active in the storage industry, as well as the SBB, and as chairman will play an integral part in the growth of the SBB ecosystem."

Hansen has over 20 years of experience in the storage industry including positions managing development and performance teams at HP‘s storage division, technical business development for iSCSI and Fibre Channel for Agilent Technologies, chief technologist for storage at Xyratex before joining NetApp as a technical director for storage. Hansen helped launch work on the T10 diff data protection standard, contributed to the development of the initial Storage Performance Council benchmark and developed the first commercially available JBOD based on SAS technology. He holds a bachelor of science degree in Computer Science.

"On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to acknowledge and thank Bill Dawkins for his numerous contributions during two tenures as Board chairman, as well as being a major contributor to the TSG," said Hansen. "Bill was a key player in creating the SBB in addition to a driving force in the development and release of the first two versions of the SBB specification."

Hansen will head the current SBB Board of Directors which includes: Bob Beauchamp, EMC; Dave Davis, Xyratex; Andy McNeill, IBM; Rex Peairs, Intel and John Szantho, LSI.