Service Availability Forum's Platform Interface spec released to ease infrastructure design. (Specifications).

The Service Availability Forum, an industry coalition of communications and computing companies, has released its Platform Interface specification. This is open interface specification for carrier-grade platform and middleware that helps tie together all standards-based network equipment elements.

The specification provides an interface between the operating system or hardware platform and the service availability middleware. This interface within the telecom equipment stack decouples high availability hardware and software.

Companies implementing the SA Forum Platform Interface specification will use it to set-up, monitor and perform fault recovery of network equipment solutions.

Membership of the Forum includes suppliers of equipment, high availability middleware, operating system vendors and platform providers.

The Forum says that a significant cost in the development of proprietary carrier-grade solutions is dedicated to developing interfaces to interoperate with a variety of redundant subsystems and applications. The communications industry has taken steps to reduce ...