That doesn't mean participants in the IP Storage Working Group think they have to accept Brocade's proposal. Members have an open mind about reviewing the specs and adding them if they improve the overall reliability and efficiency of the new protocol.
Still, it looks good for Brocade. "We expect to see a new draft that absorbs the content of Brocade's proposal," says Murali Rajagopal, chief scientist of startup LightSand Communications, who's played a leading role in the FCIP specs.
The Nishan Systems camp is a wholly different story. Nishan is a startup, and its proposal calls for a separate working group track. "They're facing an uphill battle. It could win, but it's going to be tough," said the unnamed attendee. Although Nortel, Sun, and Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq: DELL) have leant support, word has it that Brocade and Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) openly oppose the measure.
"Some of the participants think that adopting Nishan's proposal would give Nishan a faster way to market," says the anonymous source. "I think they have a fifty-fifty chance of getting their proposal adopted."
But participants are optimistic about the momentum behind the group as a whole. "It's just my personal opinion, but I think we'll have a very stable document within six months," says Rajagopal. "There's tremendous market pull to make this happen." He says makers of equipment are eager to implement the specs even before they're finalized.
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