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Network Attached Storage: Global Data Sharing Technologies

Overview

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Air Force Research Laboratory’s Major Shared Resource Center (AFRL MSRC) supported an effort in the DICE environment to investigate the ability of Network Attached Storage (NAS) technologies to provide a centralized file system for home directories and to develop a methodology for future NAS evaluations.

In an effort to gain an understanding of NAS performance and functionality, AFRL looked at three NAS vendors (Isilon Systems Inc., Network Appliance Inc. [NetApp] and BlueArc). Each of the vendors provided hardware and/or software for the NAS assessment. Some of the criteria for the evaluations and development of the methodology include performance, reliability, security, data access, management, quotas, scalability and support.

Challenge

To provide a solution to share data within a single site or across multiple sites with little knowledge of network or local file systems.

Objective

The project sought to recognize the benefits of NAS technologies in an HPC environment regarding global data sharing, develop a methodology for evaluating NAS technologies in the future and create a list of questions to ask NAS vendors about their technology that goes beyond marketing material.

Results

The methodology and questions developed by AFRL during these evaluations are based on the High Availability File Server (HAFS) requirements located at the AFRL MSRC. The requirements gathered through this study can be used as a baseline and adjusted for similar NAS solution requirements.

Ultimate Value

The methodology and questions provide the basis for future NAS evaluations. In addition, NAS vendors involved in this (and future evaluations) will be able to take away enhancements to meet the needs of the HPC community.

 

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