Michael L. Kazar

From ETHW

Michael L. Kazar
Associated organizations
Avere Systems
Fields of study
Computing

Biography

With ideas considered ahead of their time over 20 years ago, Michael L. Kazar has had a lasting influence on network file system architectures. Dr. Kazar was a co-creator of the Andrew File System (AFS) developed in 1988, which has impacted subsequent file system and data storage technology. AFS used a set of trusted servers to present a homogeneous, location-transparent file name space to all client workstations, much like today’s cloud storage technology. At start-up company Spinnaker Networks, Dr. Kazar led the creation of a clustered storage system called SpinFS that incorporated many of the ideas of AFS. The system allowed customers to use off-the-shelf storage access protocols without modifying client operating systems. When Spinnaker was acquired by NetApp in 2004, Dr. Kazar’s SpinFS became the basis for the Ontap/GX product for high-performance/high-capacity storage systems and a forerunner to cloud storage systems.

Dr. Kazar is chief technology officer at Avere Systems in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.