在奥斯汀德克萨斯大学归档关键研究数据

奥斯汀德克萨斯大学的德克萨斯高级计算中心（TACC）提供了强大的超级计算机资源，使得突破性研究。TACC需要用可靠，可扩展的解决方案替换老化存档环境，可以帮助强制使用严格的使用策略。

从天体物理学和生物医生到材料研究和地球科学，研究人员在广泛的学科中利用TACC资源来回答世界上最复杂的问题。为了保留数据并启用对该数据的长期访问，Tacc提供了研究人员，称为Ranch。

TACC was using a hierarchical storage manager (HSM) solution for the archive environment, but it was reaching the end of its life. “The whole environment was beginning to atrophy,” says Frank Douma, senior systems administrator of large-scale systems at TACC. “We needed an environment that could deliver the data reliability and restorability promised in our service-level agreement.”

杜马也想改变人们使用th的方式e archive. “Researchers were using the environment more like nearline storage, where they might store their frequently accessed files and current data sets. But it’s not designed for that,” says Douma. “We wanted to implement policies that would make sure researchers would use the environment for long-term archiving rather than as another place to throw any kind of data.”

Building a New Archive with Quantum

After evaluating several possible archive solutions, TACC decided to move forward with a Quantum solution powered by the StorNext® platform. “We recognized that Quantum could deliver the reliability and restorability we needed over the long term,” says Douma.

The newly designed environment uses 30 PB of user-facing disk storage from another vendor, which is connected by InfiniBand to six Quantum Xcellis® workflow storage nodes. Four nodes serve as distributed data movers (DDMs), which help preserve system performance during archive operations. The nodes are then connected to a Quantum Scalar® i6000 tape library.

TACC uses a Quantum QXS™ hybrid disk environment with 4.7 PB to support the HSM. “By integrating the QXS solution, I can continue to support the legacy environment until everyone has migrated their data from it,” says Douma.

Enforcing User Quotas with StorNext®

Stornext使杜马控制在研究人员分配存储。“StorNext平台使我们能够强制执行阻止研究人员使用附近存储等环境的策略，”杜马说。“我们将摇滚固体配额放在适合的目录 - 每个研究人员获得2 TB和100,000个文件。如果有人需要超过那样，他们可以要求项目空间环境。通过控制配额，我们可以确保我们正在优化存档的利用率。“

Accelerating Archiving Performance with Workflow Storage

“性能不是我们的最高优先级，但量子解决方案正在从磁盘到磁带提供非常强的吞吐量，”杜马说。“具有DDMS的量子工作流程存储提供I / O的并行化。我们同时运行多个背板上的多个磁带驱动器，比我们过去的表现更高。“

Planning to Scale for Growing Data Volumes

新环境的许可容量为50亿用户文件。但在未来，TACC计划扩大量子环境以处理更多的研究数据。通过这种可扩展性，TACC可以继续支持越来越多的研究人员，运行更复杂的工作负载来解决越来越复杂的问题。

Moving Beyond Fighting Fires

The Quantum environment enables Douma to concentrate on new initiatives and future planning rather than constantly worrying about keeping the lights on. “With Quantum, I don’t have to try to make things work,” says Douma. “Instead I can focus on ways to better support cutting-edge research.”