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The 2018 SNIA Storage Developers Conference is a great event to find out the latest developments in digital storage technology and storage management software. There were announcements and presentations, demonstrations and lots of networking covering topics as diverse as cloud storage, containers, NVMe (which is now moving to TCP as well as fibre channel and Infiniband support), NVMe-oF, new storage architectures and long-term (cold storage) data retention. The Cloud Data Management Interface is an open international ISO standard, ISO/IEC 17826:2016, that defines the functional interface that applications will use to create, retrieve, update and delete data elements from the cloud. The SNIA Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) 2.0 was announced as an open source standard. This empowers anyone to contribute to the ISO standard by signing the SNIA Contributor License Agreement. The CDMI standard provides end users with tools to enable data access, data protection and data migration from one cloud service to another. The release of CDMI 2.0 is expected in the second half of 2019. The CDMI is currently soliciting input and contributions from the cloud storage user community. Swordfish is a SNIA initiative that extends the DMFT Redfish specification. It extends a unified approach for the management of storage equipment and services in converged, hyper-converged hyperscale and cloud infrastructure environments, to make it easier for IT administrators and DevOps to integrate scalable solutions into their data centers. Swordfish utilizes Class of Service (intent or service level) based provisioning, management and monitoring. Swordfish extends traditional storage to include converged environments (covering servers, storage and fabric together). Below is a figure showing how Swordfish adds to the Redfish standard. Storage would be via a hosted service or an integrated service configuration. Swordfish added to Redfish
Image from SDC Presentation
There was much discussion of the NVMe initiative and the PCIe interface upon which it is based. The figure below from Dr. Debendra Das Sharma, a member of the PCI-SIG Board of Directors showed the figure below showing current NVMe storage devices and the EDSFF form factor family, including the “ruler” configuration introduced by Intel. NVMe will get even faster with the introduction of PCIe Gen 5 which doubles the communication rate from 16 Giga-transitions/second (GT/s) to 32 GT/s. NVMe Form Factors
Image from SDC Presentation
Among one of the most interesting ideas for NVMe over fabric (NVMe-oF) was a proposal for a distributed self-learning NVMe-oF as outlined in the figure below. This technology utilizes a “redirector” and hints. The initiator redirector directs I/O to the correct NVMe-oF target based on the hint table. The target redirector forwards I/O to the correct storage node and propagates hints backward and forward, allowing fully decoupled and legacy clients. The initiator redirector updates the local hint table based upon received hints about a volume and eventually learns about the volumes distribution across nodes. Proposal or Self Learning NVMe-oF
Image from SDC Presentation
There was a presentation by Matias Bjorling from Western Digital about Open-Channel SSDs. Open channel SSDs would align writes to internal block sizes and sequentially write only LBA ranges. There would be a sparse addressing scheme projected onto the NVMe LBA address space. It would also include host-assisted media refresh to improve I/O predictability. It would also include host-assisted wear-leveling. While proposals like Open-Channel SSDs would take some functions out of the SSD and move it to the host, other proposals at the SDC would put more processing power into an SSD to provide what is variously called computational storage, in-situ computing or memory-centric computing. Scott Shadley from NGD Systems discussed their approach to putting more processing power into SSDs. The data rate to transfer data between storage and processors is much slower than the internal data rate in storage devices, particularly for flash memory based SSDs. Moving processing into the storage devices can enable a better balance between processing and memory speed and removing the communication bottleneck. Image Search Time for Processor Only and NGD SSDs
Image from SDC Presentation
Working with Microsoft Research NGD Systems with up to 16 SSDs including 64-bit in-situ ARM-based processors image recognition throughput was increased enormously compared to host only processing as shown below. There was also talk by James Borden and Timothy Walker from Seagate on creating HDD parallelism using multiple actuator HDDs. They pointed out that with the current type of HDD design, moving to energy assisted magnetic recording, even with increases in HDD capacity, the IOPS will not grow with capacity. This can cause problems with these large capacity HDDs. For instance, rebuilding a failed HDD could take an excessive long time for a 40 TB HDD unless the data rate for writing and reading can be increased. This is why Seagate has been pursuing dual actuator HDDs. A slide showing projected HDD storage capacity increases over the next seven years. Seagate HDD Capacity Projections
Image from SDC Presentation
These new drives would have two or four actuators that could run in parallel addressing different disk surfaces. Each of the actuators would have its own head electronics, permitting each actuator to write or read information independently from any other actuator. This would provide a way to increase data to and from the HDD and thus increase drive IOPs even with higher capacity HDDs. In some off-the-cuff discussion at the SDC there was even a mention of creating HDDs with NVMe interfaces. Currently there are NVMe HDD storage enclosures (recently introduced by Western Digital). Moving HDDs to NVMe would be an interesting move and could create a unified interface to address SSDs and HDDs together. Microsoft had a keynote talk that discussed cold storage. They showed an effort to create a storage tier (Pelican) between capacity HDDs and magnetic tape using arrays of specially made “archival” 3.5” HDDs that would be powered off when not in use (MAID returns!). Microsoft Pelican Cold Storage Tier
Image from SDC Presentation
These archival HDDs would be optimized for low cost and cold storage. They might use shingled magnetic recording—which gives higher density recording, but creates a extra erase cycle with overwriting prior written data. These drives are currently available with storage capacities up to 14 TB. Storage innovations continue with both host controlled and CPU enabled SSDs, multi-actuator HDDs, machine learning enabled NVMe-oF and cloud management initiatives with CDMI 2.0 and Swordfish. I am the President of Coughlin Associates and a widely respected storage analyst and consultant. I have over 35 years in the data storage industry with multiple engineering and management positions at high profile companies.I have many publications and six patents to m...

SNIA SDC Dishes Up Storage Innovations

Program Validates Interoperability Standard for Data Stored in Public, Private and Hybrid Cloud Environments
SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 22, 2014) - DSI - The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA), today announced the launch of a Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI) Conformance Test Program (CTP) that validates cloud products' conformance to the ISO/IEC CDMI standard for cloud data interoperability (ISO catalog number ISO/IEC 17826:2012). Cloud solutions that pass the CDMI CTP offer cloud consumers assurance that the CDMI standard has been properly implemented and that data stored in any conformant implementation will be transportable to any other conformant implementation. CDMI Adoption Growing Rapidly
The CDMI standard is applicable to all types of clouds -- private, public and hybrid -- allowing IT departments and end users the freedom to operate between multiple clouds with an ISO/IEC approved standard for data storage, migration and security. Adoption of this ISO/IEC interoperability standard is growing rapidly with more than 20 implementations currently embracing CDMI. As enterprises increasingly deploy cloud-based solutions, cloud interoperability has become a critical business issue. IT departments understand the value of being able to utilize metadata in the cloud to ensure data protection and data portability -- providing end users with a guaranteed "exit strategy" for their data in the cloud. This is especially valuable if organizations want to change cloud service providers or if a cloud service provider goes out of business. As a result, IT departments are expecting suppliers to comply with standards for cloud data interoperability. Growing Mandate for Cloud Interoperability
The CDMI CTP tests for conformance against the CDMI specification and reassures cloud consumers that CDMI has been consistently implemented for multi-solution interoperably. IT departments with solutions that are CTP certified have the assurance of data storage interoperability across a wide range of cloud storage solutions. The CTP ensures compliance with the ISO/IEC version (1.0.2) of the SNIA CDMI standard, an increasing regulatory compliance requirement for vendors selling solutions to government bodies. The CDMI CTP also offers CIOs return on their technology investments as it helps them avoid issues like cloud vendor lock-in and reduces costs to exit contracts with cloud providers. "SNIA continues to develop and promote industry standards to help interoperable use of storage technologies," said David Dale, SNIA's Chairman of the Board. "When it comes to cloud storage, we are seeing vendors increasingly adopt the SNIA CDMI standard because end users want to control the destiny of their data and ensure hassle-free data access, data protection and data migration from one cloud service to another. "
"Today, the cloud market is crowded with a slew of vendors offering different solutions for migration, data management and security, often leaving IT customers confused about the right solution for their requirements," said Greg Schulz, founder of StorageIO, a storage technology advisory and consulting firm. "SNIA's CDMI Conformance Test Program is a great step forward helping IT customers, VARs or others in the industry navigate their way through the fog of cloud interoperability requirements in a streamlined fashion, not to mention laying standard routes vendors will want to adopt going forward. "
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, will oversee execution of the CTP program. TCS offers as automated testing suite compliant with the SNIA CDMI Conformance Test Program and TCS' mature test framework. "TCS, through its strong customer focus and innovative solutions, is a leader in storage services and is committed to storage standards that benefit the end user," said Reena Dayal Yadav, Global Head Technology, Domain and Innovation for Hitech, Tata Consultancy Services. "The SNIA CDMI CTP that TCS administers is supported by the TCS' CDMI Conformance Assurance Solution (CAS). The CAS solution offers complete testing support for cloud storage products' conformance for the CDMI specification, reducing test cycle time and helping organizations fix defects early on to achieve improved product quality and faster time to market. "
Webcast Explains How Vendors Can Get Started
The CDMI CTP is available to SNIA and non-SNIA vendors. Vendors can learn how to begin the CTP process during SNIA's live Webcast on May 8, 10:00 a.m. PT/1:00 p.m. ET at https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/663/109969 . SNIA Conformance Test Programs
SNIA has a proven track record of ensuring industry standard verification by offering Conformance Test Programs for storage management through the Storage Management Initiative - Specification SMI-S and for storage security through the Storage Security Industry Forum (SSIF) with its Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP). The KMIP Conformance Test Program addresses standardizing communication between encryption systems that need to consume keys and the key management systems that create and manage those keys. SMI-S is an international standard that standardizes and streamlines storage management functions into a common set of tools. SMI-S has been implemented in over 500 products. About the SNIA
The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) is a not-for-profit global organization, made up of member companies spanning the global storage market. SNIA's mission is to lead the storage industry worldwide in developing and promoting standards, technologies, and educational services to empower organizations in the management of information. To this end, the SNIA is uniquely committed to delivering standards, education, and services that will propel open storage networking solutions into the broader market. For more information, visit www.snia.org . Follow SNIA at:


SNIA’s Cloud Interoperability Conformance Test Program Now Available for Cloud Solution Vendors

Tickers: AET , ICLR , MGLN , WLP
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In order to consolidate its foothold in Newport, Magellan Health Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGLN ) inked a deal to acquire privately held CDMI, LLC for a base purchase consideration of $205 million. Additionally, potential contingent payments of $165 million will also be made by Magellan. CDMI, founded in 2009, offers an array of clinical consulting programs and administers and negotiates drug rebates for managed care organizations as well as for other customers. CDMI currently works with over 30 plans and during 2013 it had net revenue of nearly $43 million, which was primarily driven by rebate management. Magellan will pay $125 million in cash as part of base purchase consideration at the closing of acquisition. Another $80 million will be reinvested in Magellan's restricted common stock by certain key management of CDMI and the principal owners. Moreover, $165 million of potential contingent payment will be made depending on certain performance targets that CDMI is expected to reach. The acquisition is expected to enrich the current clinical specialty drug and medical management support capabilities of Magellan. Moreover, the acquisition will allow Magellan Rx Management to sell its pharmacy benefit management (AMEX:PBM) capabilities into CDMI's customer base and the MCO market. With the acquisition, Magellan will be able to provide high-quality clinical programs and services for managing chronic conditions. CDMI's relationships, clinical products and services coupled with Magellan's industry leading pharmacy-offerings are expected to improve the pharmacy business of the acquirer, which posted weak financial results for the fourth quarter of 2013. Zacks Rank
Magellan presently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked stocks worth mentioning in the medical sector are ICON Public Ltd Co. (NASDAQ: ICLR ), Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET ) and WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP ). While ICON Public sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Aetna and WellPoint carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). AETNA INC-NEW (NYSE: AET ): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
ICON PLC (NASDAQ: ICLR ): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
MAGELLAN HLTH (NASDAQ: MGLN ): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
WELLPOINT INC (NYSE: WLP ): Free Stock Analysis Report

Magellan Announces CDMI Acquisition - Analyst Blog

BRIEF-Arizona court rules against Magellan Health's appeal
Magellan Health Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGLN) today announced that it has      entered into an agreement to acquire CDMI, LLC, a privately-held company      that provides a range of clinical consulting programs and negotiates and      administers drug rebates for managed care organizations (MCO) and other      customers. Headquartered in Newport, R.I., and founded in 2009 by      experienced pharmacy executives, CDMI has established strong      relationships with MCOs and drug manufacturers. CDMI works with over 30      health plans, and in 2013 had net revenues of approximately $43 million,      primarily derived from rebate management. This acquisition will enable Magellan to offer proven, best-in-class      clinical programs and outreach services to help manage chronic      conditions, such as asthma and diabetes, as well as provide offerings      that address drug compliance and adherence. This suite of clinical      programs can greatly enhance a health plan’s medical management and help      ensure delivery of the highest quality services to their members. In      addition, this acquisition will enhance Magellan Rx Management’s      existing clinical specialty drug and medical management support      capabilities, bringing additional customers, relationships and scale to      this business. Furthermore, this acquisition will create opportunities      for Magellan Rx Management to cross-sell its PBM capabilities into      CDMI’s existing customer base and the MCO market. Upon the closing of this acquisition, George Petrovas, co-founder and      executive vice president of CDMI, will serve as president of CDMI, which      will operate as part of Magellan Rx Management. “CDMI’s customer-first culture and focus is a great match with our own,      and this organization and its employees will be a natural fit with our      company,” said Barry M. Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of      Magellan Health Services. “With this acquisition, we are continuing to      execute on our growth strategy for Magellan’s pharmacy business. CDMI      has a proven track record of success. I’m pleased that George has agreed      to join our organization, bringing with him decades of experience and      expertise in the market and solid relationships with managed care      organizations, pharmacy benefit managers and the pharmaceutical      industry.”
“The clinical programs and services developed by CDMI directly address      real issues being confronted by MCOs every day,” said Robert W. Field,      chief executive officer of Magellan Rx Management. “Together with our      industry-leading medical pharmacy management capabilities, these      clinical services will help differentiate us in the market place, which      we believe will lead to more rapid growth.”
“CDMI and Magellan Rx Management have similar cultures and a persistent      focus on their customers. I’m pleased that we’ll be joining Magellan      during this exciting period of growth,” said George Petrovas, co-founder      and executive vice president of CDMI. “CDMI’s clinical products,      services and relationships will supplement Magellan Rx Management’s      suite of industry-leading pharmacy offerings and products as we work      together to grow this business.”
The base purchase price is $205 million plus potential contingent      payments up to a maximum aggregate amount of $165 million. The base      purchase price includes $125 million to be paid in cash at closing, and      $80 million to be reinvested in Magellan restricted common stock by the      principal owners and certain key management of CDMI. The $80 million in      Magellan restricted common stock will be subject to vesting over a      42-month period, and is conditional upon certain employment and      performance targets. In addition to the base purchase price, there is a      contingent payment of up to $65 million which will be paid depending      upon CDMI’s performance relative to certain targets for 2015 rebate      retention. In addition, there is a potential earn-out opportunity of up      to $100 million, of which up to $65 million is dependent upon the number      of CDMI customers that become full-service PBM customers during 2015 and      2016, and potential cash payments of up to $35 million based upon      achievement of 2014 and 2015 gross profit performance targets. Closing      of the transaction is expected in the second quarter of 2014 and is      subject to the expiration of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Act waiting      period and other customary closing conditions. About Magellan Health Services: Headquartered in Avon, Conn., Magellan      Health Services Inc. is a healthcare management company that focuses      on fast-growing, complex and high-cost areas of healthcare, with an      emphasis on special population management. Magellan delivers innovative      solutions to improve quality outcomes and optimize the cost of care for      those we serve. Magellan’s customers include health plans, managed care organizations, insurance companies, employers, labor unions, various      military and government agencies, third party administrators, and      brokers. For more information, visit MagellanHealth.com . Cautionary Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of      the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933, as      amended, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties. All      statements, other than statements of historical information provided      herein, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements including,      without limitation, statements regarding the expected completion of the      acquisition of CDMI, enhancement of full-service pharmacy management      capabilities, opportunities for cross selling of services and future      growth. These statements are based on management’s analysis, judgment,      belief and expectation only as of the date hereof, and are subject to      uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Without limiting the      foregoing, the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,”      “may,” “should,” “could,” “estimate,” “intend” and other similar      expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual      results could differ materially due to, among other things, the possible      election of certain of the company’s customers to manage the health care      services of their members directly; changes in rates paid to and/or by      the company by customers and/or providers; higher utilization of health      care services by the company’s risk members; delays, higher costs or      inability to implement new business or other company initiatives; the      impact of changes in the contracting model for Medicaid contracts;      termination or non-renewal of customer contracts; the impact of new or      amended laws or regulations; governmental inquiries; litigation;      competition; operational issues; health care reform; and general      business conditions. Additional factors that could cause actual results      to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking      statements include, but are not limited to, the risks discussed in the      “Risk Factors” section included within the company’s Annual Report on      Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, filed with      the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 3, 2014, and the      company’s subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed during 2014. Media:

Magellan Health Services to Acquire CDMI

Acquisition will enhance full-service pharmacy management capabilities
April 01, 2014 06:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time
AVON, Conn.--( BUSINESS WIRE )--Magellan Health Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGLN) today announced that it has      entered into an agreement to acquire CDMI, LLC, a privately-held company      that provides a range of clinical consulting programs and negotiates and      administers drug rebates for managed care organizations (MCO) and other      customers. Headquartered in Newport, R.I., and founded in 2009 by      experienced pharmacy executives, CDMI has established strong      relationships with MCOs and drug manufacturers. CDMI works with over 30      health plans, and in 2013 had net revenues of approximately $43 million,      primarily derived from rebate management. This acquisition will enable Magellan to offer proven, best-in-class clinical programs and outreach services to help manage chronic      conditions, such as asthma and diabetes, as well as provide offerings      that address drug compliance and adherence. This suite of clinical      programs can greatly enhance a health plan’s medical management and help      ensure delivery of the highest quality services to their members. In      addition, this acquisition will enhance Magellan Rx Management’s      existing clinical specialty drug and medical management support      capabilities, bringing additional customers, relationships and scale to      this business. Furthermore, this acquisition will create opportunities      for Magellan Rx Management to cross-sell its PBM capabilities into      CDMI’s existing customer base and the MCO market. Upon the closing of this acquisition, George Petrovas, co-founder and      executive vice president of CDMI, will serve as president of CDMI, which      will operate as part of Magellan Rx Management. “CDMI’s customer-first culture and focus is a great match with our own,      and this organization and its employees will be a natural fit with our      company,” said Barry M. Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of      Magellan Health Services. “With this acquisition, we are continuing to      execute on our growth strategy for Magellan’s pharmacy business. CDMI      has a proven track record of success. I’m pleased that George has agreed      to join our organization, bringing with him decades of experience and      expertise in the market and solid relationships with managed care      organizations, pharmacy benefit managers and the pharmaceutical      industry.”
“The clinical programs and services developed by CDMI directly address      real issues being confronted by MCOs every day,” said Robert W. Field,      chief executive officer of Magellan Rx Management. “Together with our      industry-leading medical pharmacy management capabilities, these      clinical services will help differentiate us in the market place, which      we believe will lead to more rapid growth.”
“CDMI and Magellan Rx Management have similar cultures and a persistent      focus on their customers. I’m pleased that we’ll be joining Magellan      during this exciting period of growth,” said George Petrovas, co-founder      and executive vice president of CDMI. “CDMI’s clinical products,      services and relationships will supplement Magellan Rx Management’s      suite of industry-leading pharmacy offerings and products as we work      together to grow this business.”
The base purchase price is $205 million plus potential contingent      payments up to a maximum aggregate amount of $165 million. The base      purchase price includes $125 million to be paid in cash at closing, and      $80 million to be reinvested in Magellan restricted common stock by the      principal owners and certain key management of CDMI. The $80 million in      Magellan restricted common stock will be subject to vesting over a      42-month period, and is conditional upon certain employment and      performance targets. In addition to the base purchase price, there is a      contingent payment of up to $65 million which will be paid depending      upon CDMI’s performance relative to certain targets for 2015 rebate      retention. In addition, there is a potential earn-out opportunity of up      to $100 million, of which up to $65 million is dependent upon the number      of CDMI customers that become full-service PBM customers during 2015 and      2016, and potential cash payments of up to $35 million based upon      achievement of 2014 and 2015 gross profit performance targets. Closing      of the transaction is expected in the second quarter of 2014 and is      subject to the expiration of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Act waiting      period and other customary closing conditions. About Magellan Health Services: Headquartered in Avon, Conn., Magellan      Health Services Inc. is a healthcare management company that focuses      on fast-growing, complex and high-cost areas of healthcare, with an      emphasis on special population management. Magellan delivers innovative      solutions to improve quality outcomes and optimize the cost of care for      those we serve. Magellan’s customers include health plans, managed care      organizations, insurance companies, employers, labor unions, various      military and government agencies, third party administrators, and      brokers. For more information, visit MagellanHealth.com . Cautionary Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of      the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933, as      amended, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties. All      statements, other than statements of historical information provided      herein, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements including,      without limitation, statements regarding the expected completion of the      acquisition of CDMI, enhancement of full-service pharmacy management      capabilities, opportunities for cross selling of services and future      growth. These statements are based on management’s analysis, judgment,      belief and expectation only as of the date hereof, and are subject to      uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Without limiting the      foregoing, the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “estimate,” “intend” and other similar      expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual      results could differ materially due to, among other things, the possible      election of certain of the company’s customers to manage the health care      services of their members directly; changes in rates paid to and/or by      the company by customers and/or providers; higher utilization of health      care services by the company’s risk members; delays, higher costs or      inability to implement new business or other company initiatives; the      impact of changes in the contracting model for Medicaid contracts;      termination or non-renewal of customer contracts; the impact of new or      amended laws or regulations; governmental inquiries; litigation;      competition; operational issues; health care reform; and general      business conditions. Additional factors that could cause actual results      to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking      statements include, but are not limited to, the risks discussed in the      “Risk Factors” section included within the company’s Annual Report on      Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, filed with      the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 3, 2014, and the      company’s subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed during 2014. Contacts

Acquired

CDMI is a privately-held company that provides a range of clinical consulting programs and negotiates and administers drug rebates for managed care organizations (MCO) and other customers.

Date	4/1/2014
Round	Acquired
Amount
Investors	Magellan Health
Valuation
Revenue	0 FY undefined
Sources	1

First funding	4/1/2014
Last Funding	4/1/2014
Investor	Magellan Health
Rounds	1 Acquired
Board Seats
Type	Corporation
Location	Arizona

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