Keynotes

Tuesday

Keynote 1: How Flash Memory Will Affect Tomorrow’s Automobiles
Tuesday, August 8th, 11-11:30am

Henry Bzeih
Managing Director, Connected & Mobility Division
Kia Motors America

Henry Bzeih leads technology planning for KIA’s US operations. He heads the newly established division for expanding the Connected Car and developing derived mobility services including urban, e-mobility, and autonomous vehicles.
Before joining KIA, Mr. Bzeih was a product development leader at Ford covering all electrical and electronic systems. Mr. Bzeih’s technical and business accomplishments include many breakthrough projects that are enjoying critical success today. An example is the Ford SYNC voice-controlled in-vehicle communications and entertainment system. He also established all generations of the KIA UVO voice-activated media controller in the US market.
Mr. Bzeih serves as a board member for AUTO ISAC, an industry group focused on promoting cybersecurity awareness and collaboration. He regularly provides expert views and presentations on advanced automotive technology at events such as Connected Car West, Wireless West, TU-Automotive, and SAE’s Connect2Car Executive Leadership Forum. He has also been quoted or published in leading press outlets such as Industry Week and Automotive Megatrends.
Mr. Bzeih holds a BSEE from Lawrence Technological University and an Executive MBA from the University of California at Irvine

Abstract: How Flash Memory Will Affect Tomorrow’s Automobiles
Although the automotive market for flash memory is currently rather small, it will grow rapidly as cars become more digital, more autonomous, and more connected.  Today’s hundreds of sensors, tens of processors, and millions of lines of code will increase to new, much higher levels.  Off-board expansion will follow as data centers supporting vehicles will need to deal with ever-larger amounts of information generated from cars and owners.  There will be further changes as automobiles become a greater center of technology and part of the “access economy” and “new mobility”.  The industry is experiencing great strategic undercurrents as the entire component value chain changes.   Drivers will expect a literal Parnassus on Wheels,  that is, an entire range of high-technology automotive features (safety systems, driver assistance, navigation systems, and more) as well as all the conveniences they have at home or at work (entertainment systems, environmental control, personal communications, and customizable user interfaces).

About Kia Motors America:
Headquartered in Irvine, California, Kia Motors America is the marketing and distribution arm of Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea. Recognized as one of the 100 Best Global Brands and 50 Best Global Green Brands by Interbrand, Kia proudly serves as the "Official Automotive Partner" of the NBA and LPGA and offers a complete range of vehicles sold through a network of nearly 800 dealers in the U.S., including cars and crossovers built at North American manufacturing plants in West Point, Georgia* and the municipality of Pesqueria in the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. More information is available at Kia Motors America.

Keynote 2: Advancements in SSDs and 3D NAND Reshaping Storage Market
Tuesday, August 8th, 11:40am-12:10pm

Abstract: Advancements in SSDs and 3D NAND Reshaping Storage Market
IT managers are embracing a new generation of storage designs to improve performance, deliver better operating characteristics, and lay critical groundwork for emerging applications, as big data, cloud, connected car and artificial intelligence applications proliferate.  Rapidly improving 3D NAND and NAND-based SSD technologies are offering order-of-magnitude improvements in speed, density and size. Change is here now, as the market rallies behind the latest 3D cell technology, ultra-high capacity SSDs, high-performance NMVe, lower latency, and more.

About Samsung:
Samsung Semiconductor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics. As the leader in advanced memory solutions for home, mobile, and office applications, Samsung Semiconductor is the world’s largest producer of DRAM, flash, SRAM, and high-end graphics memory. In addition, it is a major global producer of optical disk drives, hard drives, system logic, sensors, and controllers. Samsung also has emerged as the largest producer of LCD displays, providing the widest range of products for TVs, desktop monitors, notebook/netbook PCs, and mobile devices. Furthermore, Samsung provides fabless and fab-lite customers with state-of-the-art design and manufacturing at 90, 65, 45, and 32/28 nanometers. More information is available at Samsung.

Keynote 3: Flash Memory Is Going Places We Have Never Been Before
Tuesday, August 8th, 12:10pm-12:40

Abstract: Flash Memory Is Going Places We Have Never Been Before
Flash memory is being leveraged today in applications far beyond the everyday smartphones and enterprise storage systems. New flash applications are part of today’s general news, as we hear about self-driving cars, enormous hyperscale and cloud data centers, virtual and augmented reality, mobility of content and the ever expanding Internet of Things (IoT). What kinds of new technologies will these new horizons require? They must offer a wide spectrum of capabilities – more advanced 3D features, larger drives, smaller form factors, lower power, ultra-low latency, and new types of chips and drives. Flash’s future is limited only by our imaginations. Our view takes flash to the next level where upcoming storage technologies will change the very way that people communicate, work, and entertain themselves in the future.

About Toshiba:
Toshiba, a Fortune Global 500 company, focuses its world-class capabilities in advanced electronic and electrical products and systems into three business areas:

• Creating cleaner and safer energy
• Developing infrastructure that helps maintain the quality of life
• Building storage for the advanced information society.

Founded in Tokyo in 1875, today’s Toshiba is at the heart of a global network of 550 consolidated companies employing 188,000 people worldwide, with annual sales surpassing 5.7 trillion yen (US$50 billion). To learn more about Toshiba, visit www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm More information is available at Toshiba.

Keynote 4: New Silicon Breakthroughs Help Next Generation Datacenters Meet Key Challenges
Tuesday, August 8th, 1:50pm-2:20

Abstract: New Silicon Breakthroughs Help Next Generation Datacenters Meet Key Challenges
Enterprises today want to improve their competitive positions through ever faster and more automated technology.  Breakthroughs at the silicon level are key elements in making this possible.  What enterprises need is systems that can handle today’s complex workloads and data sets (so-called big data) and utilize advanced methodologies such as real-time analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.  Such systems rely on huge memory pools and extremely high-speed storage that can include in-situ processing.  Technologies such as 3D NAND, QLC, and 3D XPoint can provide the necessary high density, low cost, and extremely fast access times.  They will lead to SSDs that include features and functionality specifically designed to meet workload demands, regardless of whether the environment is read-intensive, write-intensive, or mixed use.  They can also support the protocols and fabrics that enable storage to be shared across multiple applications.  Furthermore, they provide a logical basis for a software layer designed specifically for flash memory.  It will lead to new levels of programming and management flexibility as well as to design simplicity and throughput levels far beyond what the industry has achieved so far.

About Micron:
Micron is one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor memory solutions. Micron’s DRAM, NAND and NOR flash components are used in today’s most advanced computing, networking, storage, and communications products, including computers, workstations, servers, storage arrays, cellphones, wireless devices, digital cameras, gaming systems, and many embedded applications. More information is available at Micron.

Keynote 5: Accelerating a Data-Centric Universe
Tuesday, August 8th, 2:20pm-2:50

Martin Fink
Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer
Western Digital

Martin Fink joined Western Digital as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer in January 2017. In this role, Fink leads the company’s technology innovation agenda as Western Digital continues to transform its business and expand its capabilities and technology portfolio.
Prior to joining Western Digital, Fink most recently served as Chief Technology Officer, Executive Vice President and Director of Hewlett Packard Labs at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company, and served as CTO and EVP of HP, Inc, overseeing HP Labs, the company’s advanced research center.
In his 30-year career at Hewlett-Packard Company and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company, Fink worked in a wide range of roles, including General Manager of HP Cloud and Senior Vice President and General Manager of Business Critical Systems and Converged Application Systems.
He has been a board member of Hortonworks, Inc. since July 2014, and a board member of Wild Beer Co., since February 2016.
Fink holds an associate’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Loyalist College and an M.B.A. from Colorado State University.

Abstract: Accelerating a Data-Centric Universe
The exponential growth of data creating devices and data consuming applications continues to accelerate the virtuous cycle of innovation. An insatiable hunger for faster results, precise predictions, immersive experiences, prescriptive recommendations, along with an ever-broadening service economy has launched us into a data-centric universe at both hyperspeed and hyperscale. To maintain the pace of acceleration, the demands of Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and autonomous systems will need to create, access and transform "fast data" at increasing speeds. Likewise, prognosticators and algorithmic scientists will need to capture, protect and analyze increasing volumes of "big data" to achieve the precision required for complex reasoning. Without this essential speed and scale, the soaring value and promise of data is at risk of stalling. Martin Fink, chief technology officer at Western Digital, will offer insights into the opportunities and obstacles that we face in our data-centric universe. Among the topics explored will be: the state of 3D NAND, Storage Class Memory technologies, and the architectural disruptions required to unleash the precision and diversity of emerging fast data and big data applications.

About Western Digital / San Disk:
Western Digital is an industry-leading provider of storage technologies and solutions that enable people to create, leverage, experience, and preserve data. The company addresses ever-changing market needs by providing a full portfolio of compelling, high-quality storage solutions with customer-focused innovation, high efficiency, flexibility, and speed. Our products are marketed under the HGST, SanDisk, and WD brands to OEMs, distributors, resellers, cloud infrastructure providers, and consumers. More information is available at Western Digital / San Disk.

Keynote 6: Engineering for Fabric-Based Systems with Hyperscale Connections
Tuesday, August 8th, 3:00pm-3:30

Abstract: Engineering for Fabric-Based Systems with Hyperscale Connections
Today, 90% of IP traffic is inside the data center, and it is growing by 20% annually.  Cores and threads per server have increased from one to hundreds (and thousands per rack).  Distributed databases and machine learning will require even more interconnectivity.  How do we design the fabrics and engineer the traffic to make this all work efficiently at reasonable cost with tremendous scalability?    The solution has several parts:
.  Software-defined everything to enable service chains, automation, and ultimately self-driving fabrics
.  Micro segmentation of fabric performance, security, and visibility services that scale out indefinitely with each server
.  Fabrics, which are container-aware and can use virtual networks to deliver unique services to each container microservice
.  Retaining Ethernet as the core technology while converging new capabilities onto the network
An application running on one core then can interconnect via the fabric with hundreds or thousands of other cores inside a rack.  NVMe will play a key role in providing standardized access to the higher throughput of PCIe.  The result will be a fully adaptable fabric-based system well-suited to the needs of clouds and hyperscale websites and to the requirements of real-time analytics, personalized nodes in massive social networks, and the Internet-of-Things

About Solarflare:
Solarflare is pioneering server connectivity for neural-class networks. From silicon to firmware to software, Solarflare provides a comprehensive, integrated set of technologies for distributed, ultra scale, software defined datacenters. The Solarflare XtremeScale Architecture is a design framework which includes a comprehensive suite of features for ultra scale environments: High bandwidth, ultra low latency, ultra scale connectivity, software defined, secure with hardware firewalls, and instrumented for line-speed telemetry. More information is available at Solarflare.

Wednesday

Keynote 7: How to Network Flash Storage Efficiently at Hyperscale
Wednesday, August 9th, 11:00-11:30am

Abstract: How to Network Flash Storage Efficiently at Hyperscale
Hyperscale data centers such as clouds, social networks, and large e-commerce sites, are using ever-larger amounts of flash memory to achieve the required throughput and latency at minimal cost.  How can such large amounts of flash storage be networked efficiently? High-speed interfaces to eliminate server bottlenecks are obviously a basic element of the solution. However, they must be sized correctly to match application needs and not overload the network core or break the budget.  With NVMe SSDs able to produce over 20Gb/s throughput, the server bus architecture must match PCIe bus and memory bus capabilities to CPU, NIC, and flash requirements. The network topology must also be adjusted to match traffic patterns and application performance requirements, including such features as 100GbE switch to switch connections and larger east to west data paths as needed. Software must be upgraded, for example deploying new storage stacks that take full advantage of SSDs and persistent memory via such emerging technologies as NVMe over Fabrics. Scalability and flexibility are key factors as well, since data will keep increasing in size and new technology breakthroughs will continue to occur (for example, 200 and 400GbE and persistent memory-based storage at near memory speeds).

About eBay:
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a global commerce leader including the Marketplace, StubHub and Classifieds platforms. Collectively, we connect millions of buyers and sellers around the world, empowering people and creating opportunity through Connected Commerce. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay is one of the world's largest and most vibrant marketplaces for discovering great value and unique selection. In 2016, eBay enabled $84 billion of gross merchandise volume. More information is available at eBay.

About Mellanox:
Mellanox Technologies (NASDAQ: MLNX) is a leading supplier of end-to-end Ethernet and InfiniBand intelligent interconnect solutions and services for servers, storage, and hyper-converged infrastructure. Mellanox intelligent interconnect solutions increase data center efficiency by providing the highest throughput and lowest latency, delivering data faster to applications and unlocking system performance. Mellanox offers a choice of high performance solutions: network and multicore processors, network adapters, switches, cables, software and silicon, that accelerate application runtime and maximize business results for a wide range of markets including high performance computing, enterprise data centers, Web 2.0, cloud, storage, network security, telecom and financial services More information is available at Mellanox.

Keynote 8: Transforming Storage with Innovations in Non-Volatile Memory
Wednesday, August 9th, 11:30-Noon

Bill Leszinske
VP of NVM Solutions Group (NSG)
Intel

Bill Leszinske is Vice President of Strategic Planning, Marketing and Business Development in the Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group at Intel. He drives the group’s strategic product direction, manages product planning and marketing, and establishes and fosters key external relationships. He has led Intel’s current emphasis on solid state drives across multiple market segments including data center, consumer and business client, and the Internet of Things. His focus is on helping customers accelerate user experiences, improve the performance of applications and services, and reduce IT costs.
A 25-year Intel veteran, Leszinske has also worked on SoC definition and solutions, intellectual property planning development, and consumer electronics issues. He earned a BSEE from Texas A&M University.

Abstract: Transforming Storage with Innovations in Non-Volatile Memory
The convergence of advanced NVM technology, software, and architecture has created new performance levels for storage, resulting in opportunities that simply weren’t available before.  It is an exciting time in storage technology as these new developments transform the ability to gather, process, and store information. Learn how breakthrough technologies, available today, greatly reduce latency and increase throughput with advanced architectures, instructions, software, and solid state media.   These innovative technologies are the foundation for products that deliver business and customer value through improved performance, capacity, manageability, and reliability.

About Intel:
You may know us for our processors. But we do so much more. Intel invents at the boundaries of technology to make amazing experiences possible for business and society, and for every person on Earth.
Harnessing the capability of the cloud, the ubiquity of the Internet of Things, the latest advances in memory and programmable solutions, and the promise of always-on 5G connectivity, Intel is disrupting industries and solving global challenges. Leading on policy, diversity, inclusion, education and sustainability, we create value for our stockholders, customers, and society. More information is available at Intel.

Keynote 9: Mission Impossible: Surviving Today's Flood of Critical Data
Wednesday, August 9th, 1:00-1:30pm

Matt Rutledge
Sr VP Business Marketing
Seagate

Matt Rutledge is Sr. Vice President of Marketing at Seagate Technology.  He is responsible for the multi-billion dollar global components business, including the client, enterprise, surveillance, and digital video solution and storage markets. These include both the HDD and SSD product lines where Seagate is experiencing substantial growth.
Matt is a visionary and is leveraging the unique advantages and assets within Seagate, including superb controller/ASIC technology, systems integration and development, and strong thriving partnerships in verticals such as enterprise, to grow Seagate’s business across multiple markets and storage technologies. While many companies focus on speed and feed or simply price, Rutledge is focused on tailor made solutions and support for specific market verticals and customers along with a creative approach to ensure every solution inspires an emotional response and bond from Seagate’s partners and users.
Rutledge has over 20 years of storage experience, including; multiple storage patents, extensive product and business competency from consumer storage to the enterprise and he has successfully launched multiple business lines such as NAS, Surveillance, SSHD and the world's first PCI-e HDD.

Abstract: Mission Impossible: Surviving Today's Flood of Critical Data
Too much good stuff!  The amount of critical real-time data keeps growing at a tremendous rate with zettabytes (billions of terabytes) coming in the near future. New types of digital storage are essential to handle the flood.  They must offer huge capacity and big-time scalability, as well as be suitable for enterprise edge storage, endpoints, enterprise data and control centers, and billions of users everywhere.  Today’s storage technologies cannot do the job, nor can media manufacturers alone meet enormous performance and capacity challenges.  Storage manufacturers must develop innovative technologies and media-independent solutions.  They must create more powerful controllers, more flexible form factors, and higher-density structures.  They must make a major contribution to ensuring that enterprise can take full advantage of growing data resources.

About Seagate:
Seagate is the global leader in data storage solutions, developing amazing products that enable people and businesses around the world to create, share and preserve their most critical memories and business data. Over the years the amount of information stored has grown from megabytes all the way to geopbytes, confirming the need to successfully store and access huge amounts of data. As demand for storage technology grows the need for greater efficiency and more advanced capabilities continues to evolve..
Today data storage is more than just archiving; it’s about providing ways to analyze information, understand patterns and behavior, to re-live experiences and memories. It’s about harnessing stored information for growth and innovation. Seagate is building on its heritage of storage leadership to solve the challenge of getting more out of the living information that’s produced everyday. What began with one storage innovation has morphed into many systems and solutions becoming faster, more reliable and expansive. No longer is it just about storing information; it is about accessing and interpreting information quickly, accurately and securely. More information is available at Seagate.

Keynote 10: Using Storage Class Memory in Next-Generation Designs
Wednesday, August 9th, 1:30-2:00pm

Siamak Nazari
Chief Software Architect
HPE 3PAR

Siamak Nazari is an HPE Fellow and the chief software architect for 3PAR, HPE’s highly successful, flash-optimized utility storage solution. He is responsible for setting technical direction for 3PAR and its software enhancements.
His current area of focus is solid state storage systems and the software required to run new classes of storage solutions.  He has also been heavily involved in designing ASICs capable of handling new generations of memory technology (including MRAM, RRAM, and 3D XPoint) and interfaces (including NVMe and NVMe over Fabrics).  Nazari has over 25 years experience working on distributed and highly available systems and was responsible for the Virtual Domains and federated storage features of the 3PAR array.  Considered to be one of the Silicon Valley’s top storage designers, Nazari holds many patents and is a frequent speaker at leading events such as VMworld and HPE Discover. 
Before joining 3PAR, Nazari worked at Sun Microsystems, where he was the technical lead for the distributed highly available Proxy File system (pxfs) of Sun Cluster 3.0.

Abstract: Using Storage Class Memory in Next-Generation Designs
As the storage industry shifts its focus to big data, predictive analytics, and artificial intelligence, designers must change the way in which storage systems deliver data services.  Current approaches use either specialized hardware (which tends to be expensive) or specialized software based on commodity components (which tends to perform poorly).  However, a less expensive, more maintainable, and better-performing  approach is to use mostly standard components along  with a few specialized ASICs to accelerate key functions.  For example, a specialized ASIC can accelerate applications by accommodating the demands of storage class memory.  Software data services can then benefit from both the lower latency offered by storage class memory and the higher performance offered by ASIC-based designs.  Meanwhile, new designs gain the benefits of leveraging low-cost industry standard components.

About HPE:
We Are In the Acceleration Business. We help customers use technology to slash the time it takes to turn ideas into value. In turn, they transform industries, markets and lives. Some of our customers run traditional IT environments. Most are transitioning to a secure, cloud-enabled, mobile-friendly infrastructure. Many rely on a combination of both. Wherever they are in that journey, we provide the technology and solutions to help them succeed. More information is available at HPE.

Keynote 11: Deep Learning: Extracting Maximum Knowledge from Big Data Using Big Compute
Wednesday, August 9th, 2:10-2:40pm

Andy Steinbach
Senior Director, Business Development
NVIDIA

Andy Steinbach is Sr Director Business Development at NVIDIA,where he leads the global effort to develop the company’s deep learning platform for use in the financial services industry. His aim is to extend the use of NVIDIA’s graphical processing units into new applications that can serve multiple vertical markets. Before joining NVIDIA, he built a new group to employ machine learning technology for the first time in a $1B imaging technology division of Zeiss. He has been a presenter at many forward-looking conferences, including Spark Summit, O’Reilly AI Conference, and HPC for Wall Street. Andy previously worked in product management and strategy at KLA-Tencor and Intermolecular. He earned a PhD in device physics from the University of Colorado, Boulder and has published many papers in that area.

Abstract: Deep Learning: Extracting Maximum Knowledge from Big Data Using Big Compute
Deep learning (DL) and AI are fundamentally changing the way data is used in computation. They are enabling computing capabilities that will transform almost every industry, scientific domain, and public usage of data and compute. The recent success of DL algorithms can be seen as the culmination of decades of progress in three areas: research in DL algorithms, broad availability of big data infrastructure, and the massive growth of computation power produced by Moore’s law and the advent of parallel compute architectures. A key advantage of deep learning is that you can use the same techniques for many applications, as compared to algorithms which are typically specific to a single area.  In practice, deep learning has been employed successfully in such diverse areas as healthcare, transportation, industrial IoT, finance, entertainment, and retail, in addition to high-performance computing.   Examples will illustrate how the approach works and how it complements high-performance data analytics and traditional business intelligence. 

About NVIDA:
NVIDIA's (NASDAQ:NVDA) invention of the GPU in 1999 sparked the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined modern computer graphics and revolutionized parallel computing. More recently, GPU deep learning ignited modern AI -- the next era of computing -- with the GPU acting as the brain of computers, robots and self-driving cars that can perceive and understand the world More information is available at NVIDA.

Keynote 12: Using ARM-Based Processing for Efficient Hyperscale Storage
Wednesday, August 9th, 2:40-3:10pm

Scott Furey
Associate VP of Enterprise Storage Business Unit
Marvell

Scott Furey is Associate VP of Marvell’s Enterprise Storage Business Unit, where he is responsible for managing the development of Marvell’s award-winning ARM-based embedded storage processors and storage connectivity products. Under his leadership, Scott led the Marvell engineering team in the creation of a new class of storage processors that were recognized by The Linley Group for its Annual Analysts’ Choice Awards as one of the top semiconductor products of 2016 in the category of Best Embedded Processor. Before joining Marvell, he managed the development of PowerPC-based embedded storage processors at AppliedMicro. Scott has over 20 years of experience in the storage industry, developing devices for all major storage protocols (ATA, SCSI, Fibre Channel, SATA, SAS, iSCSI, and NMVe).
He earned a BSEE from Santa Clara University, and holds several patents in storage networking, including low latency protocol bridging.

Abstract: Using ARM-Based Processing for Efficient Hyperscale Storage
In the past, there have never been enough storage IOPS to meet the need.  Processors spent much of their time waiting for storage operations to occur.  Now, with the emergence of high-performance, high-capacity all flash arrays, there are often more IOPS than the available processors actually need.  One way to achieve a balance is to leverage low-power, cost-effective ARM-based embedded solutions.  Using these optimized for storage processors allows designers to aggregate smaller pools of storage to match network performance.  Scaling the unit for the right capacity/performance ratio requires only aggregation at the top of rack switch.  Costs could be even further reduced by implementing tiered storage using a mix of high-performance (typically NVMe) SSDs and lower-performance but less-expensive (typically SATA) SSDs.  Adding hardware acceleration for compression, deduplication, and RAID could even lead to a low-cost software-defined storage (SDS) system with good performance. 

About Marvell:
Marvell first revolutionized the digital storage industry by moving information at speeds never thought possible. Today, that same breakthrough innovation remains at the heart of the company's storage, networking and connectivity solutions. With leading intellectual property and deep system-level knowledge, Marvell's semiconductor solutions continue to transform the enterprise, cloud, automotive, industrial, and consumer markets. More information is available at Marvell.

Thursday

Keynote 13: Accelerating NVMe Innovation for Emerging Applications
Thursday, August 10th, 11-11:30am

Derek Dicker
VP/Business Unit Manager for the Performance Storage Business Unit
Microsemi

Derek Dicker is VP/Business Unit Manager for the Performance Storage Business Unit (PSBU) at Microsemi. He is responsible for PCIe storage switches, NVMe SSD controllers, and NV-RAM drives. Dicker previously was VP Performance Solutions Group, at PMC-Sierra before Microsemi’s 2015 acquisition of the company. At PMC, he led a team that introduced the first and fastest merchant enterprise NVMe PCIe SSD controller and NV-RAM drive portfolio, and introduced a new category of PCIe storage switches, including the first NVMe JBOD-optimized switch solutions.
Before launching the performance storage business unit, Dicker headed marketing for PMC’s enterprise storage division, where he and his team defined, launched, and ramped the company’s 12G SAS product portfolio, featuring industry-leading port count and performance SAS/SATA RoCs/IoCs and expanders.  He previously was with Intel in sales and marketing positions, including being chief of staff/technical assistant to the executive vice president and general manager of the Intel Communications Group. Dicker earned a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from UCLA, and later attended INSEAD’s Young Manager Programme and the Stanford Executive Program.

Abstract: Accelerating NVMe Innovation for Emerging Applications
The battle over which non-volatile memory command set will dominate has been decided, and NVMe has won. Just a few years ago, customers were exploring how to use NVMe SSDs in their server-based applications. Today, customers are leveraging NVMe-centric primary storage solutions to solve the world’s toughest problems – from building fully autonomous cars to sequencing the human genome. As system designers build for the scale required to solve these tough problems, they are requesting NVMe building blocks that are not only high performance, but more importantly programmable, and incredibly well supported. There are many opportunities for products constructed from an emerging ecosystem providing such building blocks. Examples include disaggregated rack solutions, custom-built high-performance NVMe SSDs, and a new class of FBOD (Flash Bunch of Disks) enclosures necessary for NVMe over Fabric applications.

About Microsemi:
Microsemi Corporation offers a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor and system solutions for aerospace & defense, communications, data center and industrial markets. Products include high-performance and radiation-hardened analog mixed-signal integrated circuits, FPGAs, SoCs and ASICs; power management products; timing and synchronization devices and precise time solutions, setting the world’s standard for time; voice processing devices; RF solutions; discrete components; enterprise storage and communication solutions, security technologies and scalable anti-tamper products; Ethernet solutions; Power-over-Ethernet ICs and midspans; as well as custom design capabilities and services. Microsemi is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, Calif., and has approximately 4,800 employees globally. More information is available at Microsemi.

Keynote 14: Creating the Fabric of a New Generation of Enterprise Applications
Thursday, August 10th, 11:30am-Noon

Jeff Baxter
Strategist & Chief Evangelist
NetApp

Jeff Baxter is the Chief Technical Evangelist for NetApp’s ONTAP Software & Systems Group.  He focuses on educating customers on NetApp data management innovations including flash technologies.  He especially evangelizes all-flash systems and NetApp’s vision for the future of IT and the Data Fabric. He has participated in many customer-facing events including NetApp’s Insight and Interop, as well as presenting at previous Flash Memory Summits.
Jeff has also held technical and strategy roles in the NetApp Field organization, including serving as Chief Technology Officer for the Americas. He helped guide NetApp’s overall strategic direction by providing feedback and requirements from customers and partners. 
Before joining NetApp, Jeff performed storage assessments and managed a complex storage system as part of his work at Booz Allen Hamilton and George Washington University. Jeff holds an MBA and BA from George Washington University. He has many certifications, including VCP, SNIA, PMP, ITIL, and CISSP,  testifying to his strong background in data center operations and administration.

Abstract: Creating the Fabric of a New Generation of Enterprise Applications
Flash memory has become central in enterprise data centers, replacing hard drives because of its higher speed, greater ruggedness, lower power consumption, and simpler maintenance. But what comes next is even better. It’s time for a major step in which high-speed nonvolatile memory is networked across the entire data center and beyond. Data centers will implement an overall “flash fabric” which will reduce latency dramatically and power a new generation of real-time applications including data analysis, cognitive computing, artificial intelligence, and virtual and augmented reality. The fabric will take full advantage of the latest standards including PCIe, NVMe, and NVMe-oF, as well as persistent memory (storage at memory speeds). The transition cost and effort will be surprisingly low, as data centers will leverage existing fabric infrastructure and integrate public cloud resources to store inactive data cost-effectively. Welcome to a new era of enterprises doing more with less and taking full advantage of clouds, standards, fabrics, and the latest memory technologies to create scalable solutions to big data and big compute challenges.

About NetApp:
NetApp creates innovative products—storage systems and software that help customers around the world store, manage, protect, and retain one of their most precious corporate assets: their data. We are recognized throughout the industry for continually pushing the limits of today’s technology so that our customers never have to choose between saving money and acquiring the capabilities they need to be successful. More information is available at NetApp.

Keynote 15: From Rack-Scale to Network-Scale: NVMe over Fabrics Enables Exabyte Applications
Thursday, August 10th, Noon-12:30pm

Zivan Ori
Co-Founder and CEO
E8 Storage

Zivan Ori is the Co-founder & CEO of E8 Storage, a startup working on a new generation of flash storage that offers ten times the performance of current products at half the cost.  E8 Storage won a most Innovative Flash Memory Technology award at the 2016 Flash Memory Summit.  Before founding E8 Storage, Mr. Ori was Chief Architect at Stratoscale, where he led the development of AWS-compatible cloud services for private clouds.  He has also been R&D Manager at IBM, responsible for developing the IBM XIV high-end, grid-scale storage system, which excels in tuning-free consistent performance, extreme ease of use, and exceptional data economics for cloud applications.  He holds a BS in Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and an MA in Linguistics (awarded with distinction) from University College London.

Abstract: From Rack-Scale to Network-Scale: NVMe over Fabrics Enables Exabyte Applications
Big data is here today, and applications must be able to handle exabytes of storage at affordable costs. The applications could be real-time analysis for agile business decisions, deep-packet analysis for the latest security threats, image analysis from drone surveillance, or genome analysis to understand complex diseases or syndromes.  NVMe over fabrics answers the call for huge, scalable processing systems.  It allows designers to consolidate drives into large shared storage pools. The result handles the most exciting and most demanding high-performance use cases.

About E8 Storage:
E8 Storage provides the next generation of flash storage with a rack-scale architecture for the enterprise and software-defined cloud, delivering 10 times the performance for half the cost of existing storage products, while using only off-the-shelf hardware. E8 Storage’s appliance eliminates storage need projections, is easily upgradeable and expandable, enables converged networking, and increases SSD utilization to over 90%. With E8 Storage, data centers can enjoy unprecedented storage performance density and scale, delivering on the promise of software-defined storage without compromising on reliability and availability. More information is available at E8 Storage.