HDS Content Archiving Services Deliver Climate Information at NASA

Answering the call for increased scalability and access to archived data, Hitachi Data Systems Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. announced that researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are using the Hitachi Content Archive Platform to search and retrieve archived scientific data about the atmosphere more quickly than ever before. An integral component of the Hitachi Services Oriented Storage Solutions strategy, the Hitachi Content Archive Platform delivers the Ozone Monitoring Instrument Data Processing System (OMIDAPS) project at NASA high-performance, highly scalable archiving services that ensure the secure, long-term preservation and fast search and retrieval of valuable information.

“Information that is difficult or slow to acquire hampers our research so we wanted to find an archival technology that would automate and accelerate search and retrieval queries, keep everything on disk and still be easy to use,” said Curt Tilmes, computer scientist, NASA. “The biggest benefit of the Hitachi Content Archive Platform is knowing that we can input our data and retrieve that information without experiencing the latency of a tape based infrastructure. The fact that the archive is so easy to manage is of great value to our organization because scientists can stay focused on contributing to the health of our planet.”

With the increased focus on environmental issues such as global warming, it is critical that NASA researchers get access to important data on global environmental conditions. To ensure that researchers could retrieve critical information in a secure and timely manner, NASA chose to improve its aging storage system that stored frequently-requested data and less frequently accessed files. NASA researchers needed a system that took less time to retrieve data, could withstand system failures without data loss and prevent operators from inadvertently deleting data. NASA selected the Hitachi Content Archive Platform to consolidate views and expedite retrievals for 70 terabytes of data.

“Hitachi’s unique content services approach to data storage and management is helping customers across all industries better utilize their existing data center infrastructures to reduce waste and application downtime associated with system replacement,” said Brenda Peffer, vice president of global marketing, Hitachi Data Systems. “The Hitachi Content Archiver software integrates with existing servers for immediate assimilation across NASA’s storage infrastructure, providing a common storage platform that can support heterogeneous storage systems. The Hitachi software also offers integrated and simplified searching, retrieval and indexing, which enables rapid access to archived data, allowing NASA researchers to do their work faster and more efficiently.”

The mission of the scientists at NASA also complements the green initiative of both Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi Data Systems, which is to become the partner of choice for providing environmentally-efficient IT solutions to customers around the world. At the core is a three-fold strategy that involves designing, manufacturing and supporting environmentally-friendly storage infrastructures throughout their entire lifecycle, which includes end-of-life disposal.

Based in Greenbelt, Md., OMIDAPS gathers scientific data in relation to the Earth’s atmospheric composition. This archived information is used in the study of the ozone layer and in diagnosing the planet’s current climate change. The bulk of the archive will also be used to store test data created by another NASA-affiliated group, the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP), as part of its efforts in monitoring global environmental conditions.