AGRF deploys enhanced data storage solution

The Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF) has deployed enhanced data storage and backup capabilities to handle the terabytes of data processed by the facility each week.

The genomic sequencing organisation has deployed an object storage solution from Cloudian to eliminate its reliance on tape backup and the associated requirements for manual work by its IT teams.

The AGRF processes at least 10 TB of data in an average week, so it needed a storage system capable of managing, protecting and accessing these vast quantities of data.

Mapping the genome of one patient alone involves around 100–125 gigabases of generated data, and at least three times that while analysing specific tumour samples.

The organisation’s legacy tape backup system involved 16 hours of manually swapping tapes in and out every week, which was impacting the efficiency of operations.

As a result, the AGRF went searching for a superior solution. AGRF IT Manager Douglas Morrison said the organisation chose the Cloudian HyperStore solution for its scalability, ease of management and cost-effectiveness.

“We liked that Cloudian provided the scalable capacity to meet our future growth needs without the hassle and time required in managing tapes and accessing data,” said Morrison. “In addition, the Cloudian HyperStore solution was half the cost of public cloud storage — a huge consideration for AGRF as a not-for-profit organisation.”

The AGRF has deployed HyperStore appliances with a total capacity of 1.8 petabytes, he said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Tartila