RCC has successfully installed new data storage technology for much faster research data transfers and to greatly reduce high-performance computing bottlenecks for University of Queensland researchers.
Benefits will include faster and more accessible research data for HPC users, long-term data preservation, improved data security and less energy consumption.
The new infrastructure will help RCC in its mission to provide all UQ researchers with a speedy data-from-disk recall experience, even for the oldest research data.
To meet UQ’s growing research data needs, RCC has implemented another tranche of archive disk storage using Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) Zero Watt Storage (ZWS).
RCC has also replaced legacy infrastructure with a next-generation cold data storage archive using IBM tape technologies. ‘Cold data’ is the term for data no longer in active use and accessed less frequently, perhaps not for months, years, decades, or maybe ever.
Both the ZWS and tape libraries projects have been completed and the technology is being used by UQ researchers.
ZWS’s innovation is that the software control (HPE’s Data Management Framework 7 — DMF7 — see our separate article about this) can spin disks down when they are not in use, so they only consume energy when the researcher requests data back. This will save UQ in power costs, will have a lower carbon footprint, and satisfy researchers in terms of the user experience.
The tape libraries project was developed to keep up with UQ’s enormous growth in research data.
RCC Chief Technology Officer Jake Carroll said: “Whilst our Zero Watt Storage provides all the recall performance to keep the user experience fast, we must preserve all of this data, long term. The safest and most economical way to do this is through the use of advanced tape media technologies. Tape remains the cheapest, most dense and energy efficient, and most robust preservation technology to store and archive data.
“RCC has built a world-class next-generation tape library technology, consisting of two dedicated, replicated sites, geographically separated, providing the best possible data preservation and integrity for UQ researchers.”
The new tape libraries are located at both the Polaris Data Centre in Springfield — where much of UQ’s HPC hardware is securely housed — and on the University’s St Lucia campus.
The ZWS hardware is also located at the Polaris Data Centre.
RCC Director Professor David Abramson said: “The new storage solutions integrate into RCC’s award-winning MeDiCI data fabric, delivering a world-leading capability for UQ researchers. The infrastructure leverages our joint Centre of Expertise and Innovation with IBM.”
