SAS Storage Architecture: Serial Attached SCSI (MindShare Technology Series)
Author: Mike Jackson
SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) is the serial storage interface that has been designed to replace and upgrade SCSI, by far the most popular storage interface for high-performance systems for many years. Retaining backward compatibility with the millions of lines of code written to support SCSI devices, SAS incorporates recent advances in high-speed serial design to provide better performance, better reliability and enhanced capabilities, all at a lower cost. SAS will be a significant part of many future high-performance storage systems, and hardware designers, system validation engineers, device driver developers and others working in this area will need a working knowledge of it.
* SAS Storage Architecture provides a comprehensive guide to the SAS standard. The book contains descriptions and numerous examples of the concepts presented, using the same building block approach as other MindShare offerings. This book details important concepts relating to the design and implementation of storage networks.
* Specific topics of interest include:
* SATA Compatibility
* Expander devices
* Discovery Process
* Connection protocols
* Arbitration of competing connection requests
* Flow Control protocols
* ACK/NAK protocol
* Primitives – construction and uses
* Frames – format, definition, uses of each field
* Error checking mechanisms
* Description of responsibilities for each layer:
* Application layer – mode and log pages
* Transport Layer – frame construction
* Port Layer – call center model
* Link Layer – establish and maintain connections
* Phy Layer – OOB, Initialization, and Reset
* Physical Layer – connectors and cables
* Serial Support – serial transmission support requirements
* The future of SAS – competition with SATA and Fibre Channel in the server marketplace
Interesting book: HTTP Pocket Reference or CakePHP Application Development
The End of Software: Finding Security, Flexibility, and Profit in the On Demand Future
Author: Timothy Chou
Do you know what is the real cost of your software? Before you reach for a calculator, be forewarned that it's a trick question. Even technology industry analysts and seasoned IT executives have difficulty putting a hard figure on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of today's enterprise application solutions. What makes the equation so tricky is the sheer number of variables that must be factored in, many of which cannot be lined up in a neat column and reconciled, such as issues of security, availability, performance, problem resolution and change management. The End of Software: Transforming Your Business for the On Demand Future, by Dr. Timothy Chou, is a groundbreaking book for business managers and executives that challenges conventional approaches to business software, and proposes new alternatives to managing and maintaining the systems that companies depend on.
What People Are Saying
Geoffrey Moore
The End of Software makes a compelling case for the transition of enterprise computing to the utility-based model. Where others have argued theory, Tim draws on his industry experience to build a fact-based case chock full of war stories and lessons learned. The book creates a common ground where both CIOs and their line-of-business counterparts can meet to think through the application of this new paradigm to their business.
— Author Crossing the Chasm, Inside the Tornado, and Living on the Fault Line
Michael J. Roberts
Tim Chou redefines the way in which managers at all levels need to think about IT. In so doing, he defines the forces driving fundamental change in the software industry--creating both peril and opportunity for companies in the IT industry.
— Senior Lecturer, Executive Director, Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, Executive Director, Case Development Rock Center 317, Harvard Business School
Fred Magner
Whether you rely on computer software to run your business, create software solutions, or invest in software companies, you are facing the shift from software as a product to software as a service. In The End of Software, Dr. Timothy Chou makes the case for Software on Demand and shows you who's already out there creating and using this new model.
— Chief Information Officer, Unocal Corporation
Stephen Wong
As a pioneer of the On Demand delivery model, Dr. Chou challenges certain conventions long held by the software industry. The End of Software provokes industry participants to re-think how big software should be packaged, sold and delivered in the future.
— Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Embarcadero Technologies
John S. DiFucci
Dr. Timothy Chou's book The End of Software presents a logical argument for the shift from selling and buying software-or the promise of the value that software represents-to selling and buying the actual value that software can bring to a user. This is very persuasive, especially when you consider the legacy of software vendors, who are notorious for over-promising and under-delivering. As Dr. Chou so clearly understands (and why shouldn't he-he's lived it), this new delivery method simply makes sense. But the world is often slow to change; as keen observers of the technology industry, we'll be watching closely.
— Senior Software Analyst, Managing Director, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.
David W. Yen
Dr. Timothy Chou is one of the pioneers of the On Demand delivery model. His history and vision of the software industry's evolution should be required reading for everyone in software management. While promoting Oracle On Demand, this book's extensive sharing of experience actually benefits the whole IT industry.
— Executive Vice President, Scalable Systems, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Greg Gianforte
Tim has achieved his goal; a thought-provoking view of automation on automation enabling services; an evolving world in IT delivery." Jane Hollen, SVP, Xerox North America Information Management "On Demand software is changing the way corporations consume enterprise applications. In The End of Software Tim Chou presents a convincing case for this disruptive innovation by pinpointing the specific opportunities for increased efficiencies and improved reliability.
— CEO and Founder RightNow Technologies
Vinod Khosla
There is a major change in the way enterprises use technology to enable their business processes in a highly-efficient and cost-effective manner. Dr. Chou traces this shift from its early roots with big IT services outsourcers in the 1960's through to today's "software-as-a-service" delivery models that are fueling fast-growing companies such as Salesforce.com and WebEx."
— General Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Steve Printz
The End of Software effectively answers the question, "What's next for the technology industry?" If you want to know where the market is heading, why it's heading that way, and how to best position your company for future growth, Tim's book is an invaluable guide.
— CIO, Pella Corporation
Evan Goldberg
The End of Software is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why the On Demand delivery model is what's next for the technology industry. Dr. Chou's deep experience with Software as a Service will help you discover how to best utilize this groundbreaking approach in your company.
— Chairman and CTO, NetSuite, Inc., One System
