SFF-8025 Rev 1.0 SFF Committee documentation may be purchased in hard copy or electronic form. SFF specifications are available at ftp://ftp.seagate.com/sff SFF COMMITTEE SPECIFICATION CATEGORIES Rev 1.0 July 7, 2015 Change History 12/16/13 Defined the J suffix and clarified use of the E suffix. 7/ 7/15 Added taxonomy description from the minutes 1. Categories SFF specifications have an active useful life which varies by whether they are in development or have been published. The stages of evolution include several categories. Specificationss change categories, need to be removed from availability, preserved for the lifetime of the SFF Committee, etc. The decisions and mechanisms on when and how to do this are the joint responsibility of the SFF chair and the membership. 2. Classes Specifications fall into several categories which belong to a class. 2.1 Active Class A = Approved The specification has been approved by ballot of the members and is being edited in preparation to be published as an SFF Specification. D = Development A specification in development under SFF revision control. Draft specifications are developed under an approved SFF project and are replaced by newer revisions as they become available. i = information Identified by the prefix of INF-, the document was not an SFF project and is not under SFF revision control. It was submitted to the SFF Committee for distribution, and the members voted that it would benefit the industry if it was made available. If newer versions are supplied by the developers of the specification the current versions are replaced. j = Amended The suffix appended to a specification which became an EIA standard, and was subsequently revised with content which has not yet been incorporated into the standard. It is under revision control and accessible at the ftp site. P = Published The specification has been balloted by members and is available as a published SFF Specification. It is under revision control and accessible at the ftp site. S = Submitted The document is a proposal to the members for consideration SFF Committee Specification Categories Page 1 SFF-8025 Rev 1.0 to become an SFF Specification. 2.2 Inactive Class C = Canceled The project was canceled, and no Specification was Published. E = Expired The specification has been Published and: a) the members voted against this specification remaining available when it came up for review, and the contents are no longer available at the ftp site. b) the specification was forwarded to EIA to become a standard, and it remains available at the ftp site, with a cover page which provides information about the EIA. e = electronic The suffix appended to a Specification which was Expired because it was forwarded to EIA. F = Forwarded The specification has been approved by the members for forwarding to a formal standards body. Specifications in Expired categories C, E and F are replaced at the ftp site by a cover sheet and an explanation of why the specification was expired. An e specification has a cover sheet added to the revision at the ftp site. The cover sheet explains that the specification has expired because it was integrated into a standard. However, because the standard is only available in hard copy an electronic copy is kept at the ftp site. 2.3 Archived Class a = archive Used as a suffix appended to an SFF Specification which has been Archived. This specification will always be available at the ftp site and any new development effort in the subject area shall be done under a new number. An Archived specification is retained indefinitely on the ftp site to support other specifications and reference requirements. Archiving a specification closes any further activity on that project. A new project is required to address any further developments on the topic. When a specification is balloted to Expire, a member may request that it be archived. If a simple majority agrees then the specification is Archived. Once Archived, a specification shall not be balloted to Renew or Expire, and cannot be replaced by a newer version with the same title. There is no process to remove an archived specification other than closure of the SFF Committee or the SFF Committee ftp site. 3. Ensuring Specifications are Current Every active SFF Specification except Archive comes with a built in 'sunset clause'. - If a Published specification remains on the ftp site in the same state (i.e. same revision number, same title) for five years after the date of that revision, it's status shall be reviewed. - If a Development specification remains on the ftp site in the same state (i.e. same revision number, same title) for three years after the date of SFF Committee Specification Categories Page 2 SFF-8025 Rev 1.0 that revision, it's status shall be reviewed. After the review is completed the clock starts again for that specification. The status review is a ballot in which a simple majority of the voting members decides whether to to Expire or Renew the specification. A non-member may bring to the attention of the SFF Committee details which raises a question as to the continued validity of an INF specification. if the members agree, the author of the INF specification is contacted and given an opportunity to provide a new revision which addresses the concern. If not, the members will be balloted on whether to Renew or Expire the INF specification. A member may ask that a specification be Expired prior to the time it would normally be scheduled. An ad hoc review ballot requires a unanimous decision to Expire a specification. 4. Retention Policy The SFF Committee does not retain documents, mailings, or previous revisions of specifications. The mailings provide a record for those who subscribe because they includes copies of minutes, documents and specifications i.e. either the last CD_Access mailing of a year or all mailing CDs of that year. The SFF Committee makes the latest copy of active specifications freely available via an ftp site. There is one exception in which there may be copies of two active specifications at the ftp site. If a Published specification reverts to Development status because a new revision has been prepared, the Published specification remains available as identified by a suffix of P. The Development revisions are identified by a suffix of D e.g. SFF-8xxxP and SFF-8xxxD. When the specification under development is Published it is available as SFF-8xxx (SFF-8xxxP and SFF-8xxxd are no longer distributed). 5. Copyrights There are no copyrights on SFF- specifications, and users are encouraged to distribute them broadly. The copyright on INF- documents is retained by the author. The SFF Committee has been granted the right to distribute the document. The content of INF- specifications cannot be freely copied for distribution by others without permission of the author. 6. Summary Requirements to change specification status: From To D E Sunset ballot after three years and a simple majority to Expire D E Request by a member and a unanimous vote to Expire D a Sunset ballot after three years and a simple majority to Archive P E Sunset ballot after five years and a simple majority to Expire P E Request by a member and a unanimous vote to Expire P a Sunset ballot after five years and a simple majority to Archive I E Sunset ballot after five years and a simple majority to Expire I E Request by a member or non-member and a unanimous vote to Expire SFF Committee Specification Categories Page 3 SFF-8025 Rev 1.0 Note: When a majority or unanimous vote is referenced, it is in regard to those who vote, not those who are members. Execution of this policy is the joint responsibility of the SFF chair and the membership. The default condition is to leave the specification in its present state. The Category of every specification is identified on the front page. 7. Taxonomy January 2011: The members recognized specification titles chosen by the editor made it difficult for those unfamiliar with the projects to recognize similarities and differences. A taxonomy for titling was adopted which listed the primary characteristics of a specification in order. Specifications are not re-printed if the title changes, it will be adopted on the next revision. The change in titling is to assist users and may change over time, An X is used to identify the near-interchangeable use of port/lane/channel. Connector Name / Speed / # of Ports / Shielding / Style If this grouping does not suit a specification, the same principle shall be followed of grouping in primary order. March 2015: Port ordering swapped with speed and Lo/Hi adopted for all characteristics. Connector Name / # of Ports / Speed / Shielding / Style SFF Committee Specification Categories Page 4