STA’s Charter
The SCSI Trade Association (STA) was established in 1995 as a member-run organization to provide a focal point for members to communicate the benefits of the small computer system interface (SCSI) to the storage industry. For more than twenty years, STA promoted the understanding and use of SCSI technology and influenced the evolution of SCSI standards. It now promotes the new SCSI technology, Serial Attached SCSI, which entered the market in the fall of 2004. The nine-member Board of Directors oversees the marketing communications committee, the SAS technology liaison and directs all STA activities.
20+ Years of SCSI History
In 2001, SCSI celebrated its first 20 years as the leading industry storage I/O technology. Seven generations of Parallel SCSI were developed during that period. Ultra320 SCSI was the last generation developed, entering the market in late 2001.
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
The T10 committee accepted STA’s SAS proposal as a development project on May 2, 2002. At that time, STA anticipated that SAS products would enter the market in 2004. SAS products entered the market on schedule in the second half of 2004. Now, in 2005, SAS product introduction is accelerating with the expectation that by mid-2005, a significant number of products will be available. OEM adoption has begun and STA anticipates that SAS products will be in the indirect channels by the end of first quarter. SAS products are ready for market due, in part, to three successful plugfests in 2004 that were planned to coincide with the SAS development schedule.
STA Members
STA member companies represent every segment of computing and storage, including hard drives, peripherals, semiconductors, cables and connectors. Through constant monitoring of industry research and feedback from customers, STA members understand what the storage industry will need two, three or more years in the future. STA maintains a liaison function with the T10 committee (see below), to ensure that future SAS technology standards will meet the industry’s requirements. A roster of member companies is available on the STA web site. For membership inquiries, please contact the STA office.
T10 Standards Committee
The T10 committee is under the auspices of INCITS (InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards), which is under ANSI (American National Standards Institute). Standards approved by ANSI are final international standards. The T10 committee has an established track record of moving SCSI technology forward, while maintaining compatibility with existing implementations. For more information on T10, please go to www.t10.org.
For more STA Information
For more information about STA and SCSI, please visit the web site at www.scsita.org, email info@scsita.org, call the STA office at (415) 561-6273 or send a fax to (415) 561-6120. STA is headquartered at:
The SCSI Trade Association
The Presidio of San Francisco
P.O. Box 29920 • 572 B Ruger Street
San Francisco, CA 94129-0920
March 2005