Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Serial Storage Architecture
     
        (SSA) IBM's proposed ANSI standard for a standard high-speed
        interface to disk clusters and arrays.  SSA allows
        {full-duplex} {packet multiplexed} serial data transfers at
        rates of 20Mb/sec in each direction.
     
        According to John Taylor, programme manager at IBM's Storage
        Division at Havant, SSA will be used in arrays of discs
        working with high-end computers ranging from mainframes down
        to LAN servers.  Taylor said that SSA differs from the {IEEE}
        proposed {P1394} serial interface specification in its ability
        to offer simultaneous multiplexed transfers from more than one
        disk or array.  IBM also supports the P1394 standard which
        will be used primarily by desktop PCs for {multimedia}
        applications.
     
        SSA has received backing from a number of companies including
        connector makers Molex, ITT Cannon and AMP, disk drive makers
        Conner and Western Digital and RAID array suppliers like
        Dynatech and NCR.  IBM expects to see the first SSA products
        released at Comdex in Autumn 1994 but it will be 1995 before
        the products ship in volume.
     
        Under an agreement signed with {ASIC} maker and {ARM} licencee
        {VLSI Technology}, IBM will use ARM-based chips made by VLSI
        to implement the SSA interface and VLSI will make these cores
        available to third parties as one of its Functional System
        Blocks.