Storage and Data Management Innovation
Used by many of the top 500 Supercomputers in the world, IBM Spectrum Scale (formerly General Parallel File System, or GPFS), is a high-performance, shared-disk clustered file management solution that provides global file system access to multiple tiers of various data sources using a single namespace.
Distributed metadata access and management through standard “building blocks”, allows for easy expansion without sacrificing performance, and allows for high levels of concurrent access, allowing multiple users on multiple sites to read and write to the same files without significant performance loss or data corruption.
In partnership with DataDirect Networks, the team at Aspen Systems is fully versed in Spectrum Scale and ready to help you discover your distributed storage solution.
Information Lifecycle Management (ILM)
The Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) policy engine allows enterprises to put into place policies that automate the migration of that data between multiple tiers (IE: NVME > flash drives > HDDs > tape archives) based on access time, file type, file popularity, or other factors, prioritizing access to data that is most valuable to you and your organization.
Active File Management (AFM)
Spectrum Scale’s Active File Management (AFM) enables asynchronous replication of data between sites, caching data where it is needed. You can cache data on fast storage mediums throughout your enterprise, all the while in the same global namespace. AFM is a good solution for mirroring and disaster recovery, as well, allowing you to establish primary and secondary copies at multiple sites, as a contingency against primary site failure.
Data Management API and Hierarchical storage management
Spectrum Scale’s Data Management API (DMAPI) allows you to monitor events associated with the file system or with an individual file. You can also manage and maintain file system data, implementing Hierarchical storage management (HSM), which can automatically move data between high-cost and low-cost storage media.
Spectrum Scale RAID
Much like a typical RAID block storage system, Spectrum Scale is a software implementation that contains an internal layer that can virtualize standard block storage volumes for redundancy and parallel access. Using a conventional JBOD configuration, IBM Spectrum Scale RAID implements advanced data placement and error-correction to deliver high levels of availability, reliability, and performance.
Key features
Heterogeneous hardware compatibility – works with a mix of hardware platforms and operating systems.
Disaster Recovery – using Scale Out Backup and Restore (SOBAR).
Security Features – Secure data at rest and in-flight, managed with information life-cycle management (ILM) tools.
Maintenance on the fly – Most of the file system maintenance chores, such as adding new disks and re-balancing data across disks can be performed while the filesystem is running.
Distributed locking. – Allows for full POSIX filesystem security, including locking for exclusive file access.
Aspen Systems has over 35 years of expertise in the HPC industry, specializing in building custom HPC clusters and storage solutions. Aspen Systems has many advantages and purchasing vehicles, and our team is dedicated to manufacturing excellence.