New masive data storage for research purposes at UPV/EHU

The UPV/EHU offers ehuStorage a new massive storage system. The service has been setup due to the massive disk demand, mainly  from the researchers.

How it works

The system is simple, from the end user point of view. However, technically the university has a set up complex file system, which is not cloud storage but local storage. Once the request of this storage space is made to the university and accepted, the space is assigned to the researcher who is the only one that can access it. To access the virtual disk the researcher has to configure it on its own computer (it can be done by the assistance of the CAU service to the user) and access it across the network. Hereafter when we power on the computer, it will automatically mount the disk. Technicians from UPV/EHU can inform you about the different methods to configure your computer depending on its characteristics.

Security

The information is stored on servers at the UPV/EHU, so the information never leaves the UPV/EHU. To access this storage, you must be in the university network, either using a computer that is physically on the university or using VPN if you are outside.

The system is extremely secure against hardware failures. Firstable, all information is duplicated in twin systems located in different buildings. One of these twin systems could be completely destroyed and information will still remain intact in the other one. In addition, different elements like disks, servers, network devices, etc. are redundant so the failure of some of them will not cause a loss of service or information.

However, one of the objectives of the project was to had an affordable cost, so it does not include a backup system. That is, if the researcher accidentally deletes information, it is not recoverable. It is expected that future versions of the software used by the system will include “snapshots” that allow information retrieval few days after it was deleted.

What it should be used for and what it should not be used for

The system is adequate to store large amount of that, like backups and scientific data, but not for high performance data access. That is, the stored data can be accessed and work on them under normal conditions, but has not been designed for requirements of high-speed read and write operations like intensive data processing. First, because this will require significant additional cost, and second, because in addition to the limits imposed on storage servers themselves there are also the limits imposed by the network, i.e., the bandwidth and latency of all the network devices the data must pass through on its journey from servers to the researcher computers. Obviously, it will be slower than a local drive of your PC, but it will allow to work normally. The exception is the case when you need to perform intensive write or read operations. For this type of data processing Scientific Computing Service IZO-SGI has storage systems 100 times faster. Technicians both CAU and the IZO-SGI may inform you about it.

Mass Storage Service IZO-SGI Scientific Computing

The Scientific Computing Service IZO-SGI has its own instance of this ehuStorage on our cluster Arina available to researchers. And even more interesting, researchers can configure its own instances of ehuStorage simultaneously in Arina and on it own computers.

More information

The ehuStorage service is provided by the ICT service (CIDIR) and applications must be made through the appropriate form. The complete information is on this web. Currently it is a free service but it can has a cost in the future.

Ehustorage service web page