Paper Title: Accelerating NVMe over TCP for Disaggregated Storage Applications

Paper Abstract: Todays big data problems require huge amounts of fast-access storage with high scalability and low latency. Flash area networks can provide the required microsecond access times at a reasonable cost. They utilize highly virtualized industry-standard servers connected via a high-speed network based on NVMe-over-Fabrics (NVMe-oF) with TCP as the fabric and standard Ethernet switches. In 2018, NVM Express ratificed the NVMe-oTCP transport specification, greatly expanding the opportunity for private and public cloud disaggrated storage. In this session, we will explore how to accelerate the TCP transport to yield best-in-class performance enabling disaggrated storage to become a reality.

Paper Author: Tom Spencer, Senior Director Product Marketing, Solarflare

Author Bio: Tom Spencer is an expert in data center Ethernet technology and market dynamics. Prior to Solarflare, Tom served as Director of Product Marketing at both QLogic and Broadcom where he owned cradle-to-grave management of product lines that generated over $1B in revenue. Tom and his teams developed several industry firsts including, TCP Chimney, offloading Bonjour Proxy at Apple onto the Ethernet controller, NVMe-oF and 25GbE. In addition, Tom developed business with top OEMs, ODMs, carriers and hyperscale cloud service providers. Tom earned a BSEE from University of Arizona, is a father of three and an age-group competitive triathlete.