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Computer peripherals industry

Standardization of Storage Subsystems: SAF-TE Specification

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

The joint development of the SAF-TE (SCSI Accessed Fault Tolerant Enclosures) specification by Conner Storage Systems and Intel Corp. aims to establish a standardized method for monitoring and reporting status information on disk drives, power supplies, and cooling systems used in high-availability LAN servers and storage subsystems. This specification is designed to reduce the cost associated with custom integration and cabling required to monitor these components. Key benefits of the SAF-TE specification include reduced costs and improved system administration.

Key Takeaways:

  • The SAF-TE specification is designed to provide system OEMs with a comprehensive standardized method to monitor and report status information on the condition of disk drives, power supplies, and cooling systems.
  • Studies by Intel (Intel Corp., 1995) have shown that the power, cooling, and disk components of a server are responsible for 86% of hardware-related server outages.
  • Products compliant with the SAF-TE specification will reduce the cost of managing storage enclosures by providing a method for sending and receiving information using standard SCSI interfaces.
  • Conner and Intel are making the specification available free of charge, with a royalty-free reciprocal license available for implementation.
  • The specification is designed to appeal to businesses with growing data storage requirements in client-server environments.
  • Storage costs comprise over 40% of a typical PC LAN Server's IT revenue, with management costs incremental to the initial sale (Tom Lahive, senior storage analyst at International Data Corp.).
  • Companies supporting the SAF-TE specification include Mylex Corp., Siemens Nixdorf, Intergraph Computer Systems, Tricord Systems Inc., and DPT (Distributed Processing Technology).

Statistics:

  • 86% of hardware-related server outages are caused by power, cooling, and disk components (Intel Corp., 1995).
  • Storage costs comprise over 40% of a typical PC LAN Server's IT revenue (Tom Lahive, senior storage analyst at International Data Corp.).
  • Conner had 1994 sales of $2.4 billion.
  • The SAF-TE specification is designed to appeal to businesses with growing data storage requirements in client-server environments.

Sources:

  • Intel Corp. (1995)
  • Conner Storage Systems
  • Tom Lahive, senior storage analyst at International Data Corp.
  • Mylex Corp.
  • Siemens Nixdorf
  • Intergraph Computer Systems
  • Tricord Systems Inc.
  • DPT (Distributed Processing Technology)

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