DataDirect Networks Case Studies ACCELERATE: ACADEMIC RESEARCH National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) Builds Storage Environments with DDN SFA10K™ & SFA12K™ to House Vital Research Data for Advanced Scientifi c Discovery

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	ACCELERATE: ACADEMIC RESEARCH National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) Builds Storage Environments with DDN SFA10K™ & SFA12K™ to House Vital Research Data for Advanced Scientifi c Discovery DataDirect Networks

ACCELERATE: ACADEMIC RESEARCH National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) Builds Storage Environments with DDN SFA10K™ & SFA12K™ to House Vital Research Data for Advanced Scientifi c Discovery

DataDirect Networks

Technology Category	Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services
Applicable Industries	Education
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development
Services	Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
Challenge	The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) was facing dwindling mid-range research funding which drove the need for condo-style campus clusters across a single shared environment. This was extremely complex as it involved accommodating multiple generations of hardware, interconnected technology and storage in one unified system. Ensuring equal access to all types and any number of nodes was complicated, including determining how to handle queuing and configurations. The center sought a blend of IOPS, bandwidth, performance and efficient capacity management in an environment including multiple generations of hardware resources. Read More
About Customer	The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, provides world-class computing, data, networking, and visualization resources and services to meet science needs. Established in 1986 as one of the original sites of the National Science Foundation’s Supercomputer Centers Program, NCSA is supported by the state of Illinois, the University of Illinois, the National Science Foundation and other federal agency grants. NCSA plays a major role in helping facilitate high-performance computing resource sharing as it’s essential to research in many disciplines across the Illinois campus, including astronomy, physics, chemistry, engineering and more. Read More
Solution	NCSA deployed DDN’s high-performance storage solutions, including its most advanced platform, featuring its Storage Fusion Architecture® engine to support the Illinois Campus Cluster Program. DDN’s SFA10K and SFA12K InfiniBand storage appliances with nearly 1PB of storage capacity were implemented to support the single storage pool for all nodes in the campus cluster. This solution was chosen as it could address the unique technical and business challenges associated with implementing a single computing and storage environment. It provided the flexibility to work with multiple generations of hardware and accommodate a wide range of configuration requirements. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services

Applicable Industries

Education

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

Challenge

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) was facing dwindling mid-range research funding which drove the need for condo-style campus clusters across a single shared environment. This was extremely complex as it involved accommodating multiple generations of hardware, interconnected technology and storage in one unified system. Ensuring equal access to all types and any number of nodes was complicated, including determining how to handle queuing and configurations. The center sought a blend of IOPS, bandwidth, performance and efficient capacity management in an environment including multiple generations of hardware resources.

About Customer

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, provides world-class computing, data, networking, and visualization resources and services to meet science needs. Established in 1986 as one of the original sites of the National Science Foundation’s Supercomputer Centers Program, NCSA is supported by the state of Illinois, the University of Illinois, the National Science Foundation and other federal agency grants. NCSA plays a major role in helping facilitate high-performance computing resource sharing as it’s essential to research in many disciplines across the Illinois campus, including astronomy, physics, chemistry, engineering and more.

Solution

NCSA deployed DDN’s high-performance storage solutions, including its most advanced platform, featuring its Storage Fusion Architecture® engine to support the Illinois Campus Cluster Program. DDN’s SFA10K and SFA12K InfiniBand storage appliances with nearly 1PB of storage capacity were implemented to support the single storage pool for all nodes in the campus cluster. This solution was chosen as it could address the unique technical and business challenges associated with implementing a single computing and storage environment. It provided the flexibility to work with multiple generations of hardware and accommodate a wide range of configuration requirements.

Impact #1	Research dollars are stretched farther by consolidating department buying power, accelerating scientific discovery in areas such as astronomy, physics, chemistry and engineering.
Impact #2	Illinois Campus Cluster Program‘s storage is optimized for a varied mix of compute workloads and shortened project start-up times while achieving major economies of scale with centralized computing systems, data center facilities and support operations.
Impact #3	Grad students no longer are burdened with systems admin duties so they can focus more on their science while individual groups no longer have to deal with IT operational costs.

Impact #1

Research dollars are stretched farther by consolidating department buying power, accelerating scientific discovery in areas such as astronomy, physics, chemistry and engineering.

Impact #2

Illinois Campus Cluster Program‘s storage is optimized for a varied mix of compute workloads and shortened project start-up times while achieving major economies of scale with centralized computing systems, data center facilities and support operations.

Impact #3

Grad students no longer are burdened with systems admin duties so they can focus more on their science while individual groups no longer have to deal with IT operational costs.

Benefit #1	Researchers can achieve up to 20 percent more computer and storage resources for their investments.

Benefit #1

Researchers can achieve up to 20 percent more computer and storage resources for their investments.

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Overview

ACCELERATE: ACADEMIC RESEARCH National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) Builds Storage Environments with DDN SFA10K™ & SFA12K™ to House Vital Research Data for Advanced Scientifi c Discovery

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit