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File storage standard completed

A consortium of more than 80 companies is scheduled to announce on Monday the completion of the Direct Access File System (DAFS) standard, a protocol that lets a program send information directly to a network system without relying on a computer's operating system to manage the communication. At a meeting set for Monday in San Jose, Calif., the consortium will disband and announce a successor organization to govern the specification. By bypassing the operating system, DAFS enables faster reading and writing of files over a network, giving it appeal to network storage computers makers such as Network Appliance, which in a regulatory filing Tuesday said it might be able to release its first DAFS-enabled products in early 2002. Version 1.0 of DAFS, available for download, was completed Aug. 30.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
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Stephen Shankland
A consortium of more than 80 companies is scheduled to announce on Monday the completion of the Direct Access File System (DAFS) standard, a protocol that lets a program send information directly to a network system without relying on a computer's operating system to manage the communication. At a meeting set for Monday in San Jose, Calif., the consortium will disband and announce a successor organization to govern the specification.

By bypassing the operating system, DAFS enables faster reading and writing of files over a network, giving it appeal to network storage computers makers such as Network Appliance, which in a regulatory filing Tuesday said it might be able to release its first DAFS-enabled products in early 2002. Version 1.0 of DAFS, available for download, was completed Aug. 30.