Paper Title: Evolution of Ethernet attached NVMe-oF Devices and Platforms

Paper Abstract: As NVMe-oF ecosystem continues to mature, storage systems now have design choices for the type of external and internal fabrics to use, as well as the various attach points. Several Ethernet-based protocols (RoCE, iWARP, TCP) have also emerged as design choices for storage fabrics and interfaces. There are unique properties and trade-offs associated with those choices, as well as different implementation, acceleration paths, and management models. An industry discussion has ensued on how close to the storage the Ethernet I/F should be carried: data center, rack, even device. This presentation will provide a broad view of Ethernet-attached NVMe-oF disaggregated storage systems and what it would take for successful wide deployment of those systems.

Paper Author: Ihab Hamadi, Fellow/Sr Director, Western Digital

Author Bio: Ihab Hamadi is a Fellow at Western Digital, where he focuses on storage systems architecture for devices and platforms. He has over two decades of solid track record of building leading edge cloud computing, data storage, networking, and virtualization technology and solutions. Before joining Western Digital, Ihab was Distinguished Technologist at HPE Aruba, leading development teams that contributed to OpenSwitch project and created ArubaOS-CX network operating systems, a modern OS for the mobile and IoT era, built from the ground-up to support Intent Based Networking. Ihab has also held a wide range of technology leadership positions with Broadcom, Emulex, and other companies. He earned a MS degree in computer engineering from the University of Denver.