Michael L. Kazar

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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.