IBM is placing Aperi, its open source storage management group, under indirect industry authorization. Aperi will join the Eclipse Foundation and will form a formal relationship with the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA), writes Chris Mellor over at Techworld.
Previously, IBM founded Aperi in October, 2005, in such a way that implied the SNIA's own Storage system Management Interface Specification (SMI-S) was unacceptably slow in coming to fruition. Last week, Sun Microsystems abruptly left Aperi and joined an Anti-Aperi Group (AAG). This group collectively affirmed the supremacy of SNIA in approving specifications and technologies for SMI-S. IBM will now have to submit Aperi for oversight to SNIA.

Robin Glasgow, SNIA executive director, stated: “This week, the Aperi community announce their intention to form within The Eclipse Foundation and also state their plans to establish a formal relationship with the SNIA.” He was very keen to unify the activities of Aperi and the AAG. “All members of the Aperi community and all of the companies referenced in AAG are active, contributing SNIA members and the SNIA recognizes that they are all passionate about the success of SMI-S.”

“The AAG wants to change the SNIA charter so that it can produce ‘SNIA’ APIs and technologies for SMI-S. But with both Aperi and the AAG set to produce SMI-S technologies, the SNIA will now have to choose one or the other side, leading to time-consuming and potential divisive discussions between representatives from Aperi and AAG in SNIA workgroup meetings,” Chris speculates.

SNIA Board of Directors vice-chair Ray Dunn said, “Software development within the SNIA makes a lot of sense. The SNIA represents the majority of storage industry players and is the most logical place for new collaborative initiatives to come to fruition.”

Robin Glasgow doesn't copy this sentiment, talking instead of “a relationship with SNIA that will focus on standards, testing and implementation of SMI-S, testing of applications using SMI-S, and common marketing and education programs that focus on SMI-S and storage management.”
 
“Both Aperi and the AAG need the SNIA's approval for end-user credibility, so there is now little danger of either group operating without SNIA endorsement of their code products as SMI-S compliant. AAG must now see little hope of persuading the SNIA to change its constitution to produce code that the AAG wants in opposition to Aperi,” Chris writes.