Cloud computing environments with on-demand access to compute, network, and storage resources require an elastic infrastructure that can be rapidly scaled and dynamically reconfigured. Virtualization combined with x86 servers has transformed the way we scale out compute resources. The alternate approach to infrastructure that virtualization has enabled, referred to as the software-defined data center, uses standard, commodity, scale-out hardware building blocks to create pools of resources. These resources are abstracted and delivered as tiers of services that can be configured, managed and controlled entirely through software. Unfortunately, legacy Fibre Channel and iSCSI storage architectures are rooted in rigid mainframe-era designs, and are fundamentally incompatible with the dynamic software-defined data center.

In this session, learn how Ethernet storage architectures leverage off-the-shelf hardware, standard Ethernet, and distributed storage processing to enable a building block approach to scalability - no forklift upgrades required. By leveraging powerful REST-based programmability, a powerful policy engine, and automation that enables one-click storage provisioning, these architectures deliver flexible software-defined storage that offers simplicity at scale. Learn how organizations today are already leveraging Ethernet storage as the storage backbone of their dynamic public and private cloud architectures.

Speaker Bio:Kevin Brown is CEO of Coraid, Inc. He is an accomplished entrepreneur and executive, with experience in the networking, storage, security, and virtualization sectors. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of Kidaro, a desktop virtualization software vendor, where he led the team to a leadership position in this emerging segment. Kidaro was acquired by Microsoft in May 2008 and incorporated as a key element of Windows virtualization.

Prior to joining Kidaro, Brown served as a vice president on the original executive team of storage security vendor Decru, where he led worldwide marketing, business development, and product management. As one of the leading experts on storage security, he served as an advisor to the U.S. Congress, Federal Trade Commission, and U.S. Department of Defense.