IBM leads charge for open source storage

IBM and eight other storage vendors are teaming up to form an open source organization called Aperi. The companies intend to work together to develop common storage software to manage multiple vendors’ systems, making it easier for users dealing with disparate storage systems. The software will be made available free of charge.

The Aperi name comes from the Latin word meaning “to open.” The vendors will contribute code to the Aperi effort, with IBM making the first donation of some of its storage infrastructure management technology. The group will be managed by an independent, nonprofit organization with a multivendor board of directors.

Aperi will be modeled after the Eclipse consortium set up by IBM in conjunction with other vendors to handle open source projects to create development tools and frameworks for building software.

IBM’s partners in Aperi are Brocade Communications Systems, Cisco Systems, Computer Associates International, Engenio Information Technologies, Fujitsu, McData, Network Appliance, and Sun Microsystems. This is a roll call of some — but not all — of the leading storage vendors. Missing are EMC, Hewlett-Packard, and Symantec.

Aperi intends to use existing open-storage standards, including the Storage Management Initiative Specification from the Storage Network Industry Association (SNIA).

“One of the last pillars of proprietary technology is about to fall,” said Jim Stallings, vice president of intellectual property and standards at IBM.

Stallings pointed out that unlike many other areas of software, storage management has held off from embracing open source technology.

“You’re now witnessing the convergence of open source and storage,” he added.

Stallings said that the Aperi work is being done in collaboration with SNIA, with all the current Aperi members also being members of SNIA. “This will end up being a release of code that will embody SNIA standards,” he said.

Aperi will release its first reference model some time next year, Stallings said, with all members contributing code to the effort, but he wouldn’t be drawn into specifics.