IBM, HP exchanging storage APIs to boost interoperability

IBM AND HEWLETT-PACKARD announced Tuesday that they have cross-licensed application programming interfaces on their high-end storage arrays and storage network management software, allowing them to more easily interoperate within storage-area networks.

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The API exchange will allow HP OpenView storage management software to manage IBM's TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Server, also known as Shark. Conversely, IBM's storage management software will be able to manage the HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array and Enterprise Modular Array storage systems.

Brian Truskowski, chief technology officer in IBM's Storage Systems Group, said that while it's not a "quid pro quo exchange ... we're making available all the API and [command-line interface] information we have on those particular arrays."

Robert Grey, an analyst at IDC in Framingham, Mass., said the exchange of APIs will allow the two companies to do more easily what both have been striving toward via reverse-engineering.

"Nobody runs a closed shop today. I think it reflects that both of them concluded they'll benefit from supporting each other's products," Grey said.

Truskowski and Mark Sorenson, vice president of HP's storage software division, said both companies are fully committed to pressing forward on emerging standards that will eventually allow all software and hardware to interoperate on a single network through a central management platform.

IBM and HP are members of the Storage Networking Industry Association's Bluefin task force, which is working to present the proposed standard to the Internet Engineering Task Force by year's end for approval.

The Bluefin standard, based on the Common Information Model (CIM) and Web-Based Enterprise Management standards, supports device discovery, monitoring and management and is aimed at letting IT administrators use a single set of storage management tools to control a mix of software and hardware from different vendors.

Sorenson said the ultimate goal for both companies is to be able to manage their respective storage products through standards, specifically Bluefin and the CIM.

"However, these two companies are very large vendors that have to solve customer problems today and have taken this pragmatic step of utilizing the existing technology available to us -- the APIs -- with the hope of widespread proliferation of standards in the future and bringing in our entire portfolio at that time," Sorenson said.

In October, IBM and HP are expected to join other major vendors in demonstrating the capabilities of production-level products interoperating via the proposed Bluefin standard at the Storage Networking World conference in Orlando.

If the Bluefin draft standard doesn't deploy quickly enough, "then we'll simply extend the agreement to bring in more technologies and products as needed," Sorenson said