A storage industry body has developed what it says is the first standard for cloud-based storage systems.
The Storage Networking Industry Association says the Cloud Data Management Interface will help organisations combine multiple cloud systems and move their data between cloud providers, and will help bolster trust in the cloud computing model.
The CDMI comprises a metadata format and a set of minimum security requirements for data stored in multi-tenant cloud environments. The SNIA, a non-profit association made up of member companies including Oracle and Dell, said that it expects the CDMI to be implemented by service providers and cloud infrastructure vendors for public, private and hybrid cloud computing models.
"This milestone means that we should soon start to see open cloud interfaces for public and private clouds," said Val Bercovici, chair of the SNIA Cloud Storage Initiative and an employee of the office of the CTO at NetApp. "These interfaces will appear side-by-side with the existing proprietary interfaces, but the extensible nature of the CDMI standard means that implementations can expose their entire functionality and will not be limited to a lowest common denominator approach."
The impetus for cloud computing providers to incorporate interoperability and security standards derives from the fact that customers often cite the risk of lock in and information security fears as barriers to adoption.
