
Development *** THIS IS NOT A FINAL DRAFT *** SFF-8472 Rev 11.0
Diagnostic Monitoring Interface for Optical Transceivers Page 3
Foreword
The development work on this specification was done by the SFF Committee, an
industry group. The membership of the committee since its formation in August 1990
has included a mix of companies which are leaders across the industry.
When 2 1/2" diameter disk drives were introduced, there was no commonality on
external dimensions e.g. physical size, mounting locations, connector type,
connector location, between vendors.
The first use of these disk drives was in specific applications such as laptop
portable computers and system integrators worked individually with vendors to
develop the packaging. The result was wide diversity, and incompatibility.
The problems faced by integrators, device suppliers, and component suppliers led to
the formation of the SFF Committee as an industry ad hoc group to address the
marketing and engineering considerations of the emerging new technology.
During the development of the form factor definitions, other activities were
suggested because participants in the SFF Committee faced more problems than the
physical form factors of disk drives. In November 1992, the charter was expanded to
address any issues of general interest and concern to the storage industry. The SFF
Committee became a forum for resolving industry issues that are either not addressed
by the standards process or need an immediate solution.
Those companies which have agreed to support a specification are identified in the
first pages of each SFF Specification. Industry consensus is not an essential
requirement to publish an SFF Specification because it is recognized that in an
emerging product area, there is room for more than one approach. By making the
documentation on competing proposals available, an integrator can examine the
alternatives available and select the product that is felt to be most suitable.
SFF Committee meetings are held during T10 weeks (see www.t10.org), and Specific
Subject Working Groups are held at the convenience of the participants. Material
presented at SFF Committee meetings becomes public domain, and there are no
restrictions on the open mailing of material presented at committee meetings.
Most of the specifications developed by the SFF Committee have either been
incorporated into standards or adopted as standards by EIA (Electronic Industries
Association), ANSI (American National Standards Institute) and IEC (International
Electrotechnical Commission).
If you are interested in participating or wish to follow the activities of the SFF
Committee, the signup for membership and/or documentation can be found at:
www.sffcommittee.com/ie/join.html
The complete list of SFF Specifications which have been completed or are currently
being worked on by the SFF Committee can be found at:
ftp://ftp.seagate.com/sff/SFF-8000.TXT
If you wish to know more about the SFF Committee, the principles which guide the
activities can be found at:
ftp://ftp.seagate.com/sff/SFF-8032.TXT
Suggestions for improvement of this specification will be welcome. They should be
sent to the SFF Committee, 14426 Black Walnut Ct, Saratoga, CA 95070.
评论0