NVM Express proudly collaborates with the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) to conduct compliance and interoperability testing for the NVM Express® (NVMe®) specifications. As a vendor-neutral test lab, the UNH-IOL provides members with confidential and unbiased test results, helping companies get products ready to market, faster. NVM Express member products that pass UNH-IOL’s required testing can be listed on the NVMe Integrator’s List. The NVMe Integrator’s List consists of configurations that have proven to be...
IOL Blog: Storage Technologies
Featured Post
NVM Express Integrator’s List 101: Your Guide to NVMe Interoperability and Compliance Testing
By Mara Johnson - May 16, 2022
UNH-IOL Plugfest #16 Performs Product Testing for NVMe Integrator’s List
By Jade Kwitkiwski - December 13, 2021
The UNH-IOL wrapped up the NVMe® Plugfest #16 where members tested their NVMe SSD and NVMe-oF™ products against the NVMe and NVMe-oF test specification. The primary goal of the Plugfest is to qualify products for the NVMe Integrator’s List or the NVMe-oF Integrator's List . This past event tested nine devices from six different companies which took place over the course of two-weeks, virtually.
At the UNH-IOL, test plans serve as a beneficial and informational indicator...
IOL INTERACT Latest Release Streamlining Product Testing for NVMe & NVMe-oF
By Jade Kwitkiwski - November 9, 2021
The IOL INTERACT™ test software streamlines testing conformance and automation of NVMe® SSDs and NVMe-oF™products, with the goal of verifying products for the Integrator’s List as well as testing overall NVMe conformance. UNH-IOL customers gain access to the tool through annual memberships, which allows testing in your own labs. Testing within your own lab qualifies as pre-testing, with a “pass” granting it validation to be sent to the UNH-IOL for further testing.
Annually, IOL INTERACT PC Edition launches two...
Testing NVMe® Conformance Through Virtual Plugfest Events
By Owen O'Brien - February 12, 2021
Here at the University of New Hampshire’s Interoperability Lab (UNH-IOL), the collaborative efforts of Plugfests, also known as group test events, have been hosted and developed since the late 1980s. The lab’s dedicated space for these types of events holds up to 60 companies in a neutral, third party environment. Common among the UNH-IOL’s group testing efforts, are the multi-vendor Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe ® ) and NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF ™) Plugfests which are held two times per year....
SSD Power and Performance Levels: The Latest Release of IOL INTERACT™
By Gerry Donahue - April 6, 2020
Going into summer 2019, I was a full time software developer in the NVMe testing group at the UNH-IOL and focused primarily on test script development for the automated testing application, IOL INTERACT™ . IOL INTERACT™ is a software package used to automatically perform the NVMe Conformance Test plan, which can qualify products for the NVMe Integrators list. As a test script developer, I worked directly on with testing prototype NVMe drives, which gave me a hands on and...
Wuhan Plugfest: The NVMe Testing Service Takes on China
By Carter Snay - February 1, 2019
Hello reader! My name is Carter Snay, and I have been working at the UNH-IOL since March 2017. I was initially working in the iSCSI testing service, but moved to NVMe in August of 2017 where I currently still work. I am an Environmental Science major, which is different than all of my peers who are either IT or CS. Generally I’ll get a confused look when a vendor asks me what I’m studying, but I’m still able to do...
32G Fibre Channel Transmitter Test Suite - Utilizing New Speeds
By Daniel Gray - December 7, 2015
The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) has just released a new 32G Fibre Channel (32GFC) test suite based on the latest physical interface standard for Fibre Channel, FC-PI-6. With storage industries constantly driving towards faster speeds, Fibre Channel leads the way in FC-PI-6 with 32GFC technology. The UNH-IOL is constantly staying ahead of the curve with the latest technologies by updating test suites to enhance end user experiences and while also validating device compliance. In order for the...
iSCSI Test Suites Updated
By - November 30, 2015
In April 2014 the IETF Storage Maintenance (STORM) working group published RFC 7143 , a consolidated standards track document for all things iSCSI. We’re happy to report that the iSCSI Consortium has completed its efforts to revise our Login Phase, Full Feature Phase, and Multi-connection test suites in order to provide you with the most accurate and up-to-date results.
There were some minor changes to the standard that should not dramatically affect existing implementations. Section 2.3 provides a...
Encouraging Robust Implementations Through Informative Testing
By Matthew Mayer - April 20, 2015
When it comes to conformance testing, it takes more than just binary pass or fail baseline tests to provide reports that encourage the strongest possible implementation of a standard. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) uses the keywords “MUST” and “MUST NOT”, as defined in RFC 2119, to mandate specific behaviors across their standards. Neglecting to adhere to these requirements will result in failed compliance tests. However, defining "correct" behavior is not always black and white. To address...
Modernization of Mobile Storage
By David Woolf - April 14, 2015
David Woolf recently authored a blog post that was featured on Embedded.com in which he discusses the rapid progression of mobile storage technologies. Woolf suggests that the increasing usage of mobile products and demand for new technology has caused an increase in the demand for progress in other applications such as storage and vice versa.
"Mobile device makers tend to highlight high storage capacities of their devices. Lower end devices are typically in the 8-16 GB range, whereas higher end devices can have 128 GB or more. Most Android devices accept microSD cards, increasing their capacity further (currently microSD cards max out at 128 GB). But what are the technologies behind all this storage, and what’s in store for them and the future of mobile storage?"
Issues and Limitations with DDR Memory
By Michael Klempa - March 9, 2015
Catching one of the last flights out of Boston and escaping one of the many Nor’easters, I learned a great deal about Double Data Rate (DDR) memory while attending DesignCon 2015. Many people know a little about memory - it is ubiquitous and essential in computer architecture. It’s especially present in the backbone of the internet, servers. And with cloud computing being the latest and greatest thing out there right now, most companies want the fastest memory available since memory...
Announcing Automated Remote iSCSI Testing
By Matthew Mayer - March 4, 2015
Since its launch in 2010, the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) Remote iSCSI Target Tester has been a test tool with great potential. The ability to remotely execute tests from both the Target Login and Target Full Feature Phase (FFP) Test Suites gives vendors the opportunity to tweak their implementation before shipping a device to the lab for full testing. Details specific to the Remote iSCSI Target Tester were discussed in a previous blog, “ ...
Never Burn A Bridge
By Tim Sheehan - October 24, 2014
Never burn the bridge, a phrase learned from parents and most sensible people. This is a practical military phrase that means you should never cut off your avenue of retreat as you advanced. In these modern business times it refers to relationships established and how you should leave on good terms so it leaves open future opportunities. I just witnessed it.
Intro to IOL INTERACT-NVMe Test Software
By David Woolf - October 31, 2013
In recent years, UNH-IOL has expanded beyond just test services, and now offers several conformance test tools that members can use to replicate the UNH-IOL capability in their own labs. One example of this is the IOL INTERACT tool used for NVMe conformance testing. There are two versions of the IOL INTERACT tool, and we'll be discussing both of them.