Storage Summit 2015, Discussion Centers On Technological Changes Fueling Business Transformations
[Shenzhen, China, Nov. 4, 2015] Storage Summit 2015, themed "Transformation", was held in the purpose-built Shenzhen known as the 'hardware capital' of the world from November 3-4. Huawei and the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) co-hosted the event that gathered together top authorities in the storage field, including Nobel Prize laureate Prof. Albert Fert, IEEE Fellow Prof. David Hung-Chang Du, and other experts from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Intel, Baidu, Micron, and SanDisk, among the long list of others.
Much of the discussion focused on the trends and value created from service-driven storage, new-gen storage architectures, technological trends and practical applications in new storage media, applications in next-gen storage systems, and other hot technologies. Over 20 keynote speeches and discussion panels took place as attendees discussed how to use new storage technologies to secure opportunities and overcome challenges fueled by the tremendous business changes and transformations taking place.
Sponsors of Storage Summit 2015 with Special Guests
Director of the Huawei Technical Planning Department, Mr. Zhang Xinyu, made the following comments during his opening speech: "Compelling changes are taking place in storage, changes which are driving transformations. The degree to which the mobile, social, and cloud-based elements are becoming a part of Internet services is driving next-phase evolutions in data storage. In turn, impressive developments in storage media, storage functions virtualization (SFV), Storage-as-a-Service, and other transformations taking place in services and applications are all driving changes to the underlying technology in storage systems."
Prof. Albert Fert, winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics, delivering a speech
Professor at the University of Paris-Sud in France and winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics, Albert Fert, holds that theory guides the direction of technological innovation, and technological innovation leads to competitiveness. The underlying level in storage technology is relying on breakthroughs in core technologies and theories to tear free of bottlenecks. Significant progress has been achieved in the recent research into spin-orbit coupling technology. Applying the DMI effect reduces the size of a single STT-MRAN storage unit down to just a few nanometers, greatly enhancing the density and performance of storage media. Professor Fert is also engaged in research in topological insulators and ferroelectric technology.
IEEE Fellow Prof. David Hung-Chang Du said that Big Data will have to address how to extract knowledge from massive data sets, how to make the best decisions based on collected data, and which data to retain, store in deep drives, and delete in addition to the many other challenges in handling mega data. New storage media including NVM, intelligent hard disks, SMR disks; emerging applications like Big Data, mobile applications, new-type storage databases, and I/O workload characterization for different computing environments.
During a keynote speech during the event, Chief Architect at Huawei Storage, Zha Wei, expressed that increasingly more companies want to move IT and data to the cloud. Next-step development at the data center will require the jump into hybrid clouds, with hybrid cloud storage at the core.
Chris Mellor, storage editor at The Register, presided over the "Challenges and Opportunities for Service Driven Storage Systems" panel discussion. Since the first event held in 2013, Storage Summit has continued to focus on the trends and future technologies in storage, building a high-profile exchange platform for storage enthusiasts. The annual meeting has already become one of the most prestigious venues for displaying developments in core storage technologies.
