J. Craig Venter Institute Uses Isilon IQ

Isilon Systems announced that the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not for profit genomic research institute, is using Isilon IQ, featuring the new OneFS 5.5 operating system (see separate release) as a repository for a massive dataset of sequenced DNA samples related to JCVI’s work in sequencing microbes associated with infectious diseases. With Isilon IQ, JCVI employs a high performance, highly scalable, shared pool of storage, streamlining data access and analysis to increase workflow efficiency and speed time-to-results, while reducing capital and operational expenditures.

JCVI was founded by J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., who sequenced the first human genome in 2001 and the first complete diploid genome in 2007. Today, JCVI is a leading multi-disciplinary genomic-focused organization, employing more than 400 scientists and staff who are focused on a variety of projects including sequencing and analyzing viral isolates and other infectious disease causing microbes.

Prior to deploying Isilon IQ, JCVI’s traditional storage systems required significant time and resources to manage, as the systems were incapable of scaling effectively to meet the demands of JCVI’s workflow. By deploying Isilon IQ with OneFS 5.5, which delivers more than 5 petabytes (PB) of capacity and up to 45 Gigabytes per second (Gbps) of performance in a single file system, JCVI has an efficient, easy-to-manage storage infrastructure, accelerating data access to enable greater workflow efficiency and productivity. Additionally, Isilon IQ allows JCVI to seamlessly scale both capacity and performance in lock-step by simply adding nodes to its cluster on the fly, eliminating the cost and complexity barriers of traditional storage architectures.

"As the scope of our research initiatives has expanded, we’ve experienced a dramatic increase in the amount of genomic data that must be efficiently and reliably accessed, analyzed, and archived," said Eddy Navarro, storage team lead at JCVI. "With Isilon IQ, we have the flexibility to ‘pay as we grow,’ allowing us to expand our storage only as need dictates, while still maintaining the high-performance necessary to power our data-intensive workflow and advance our research."

"With the continuing advances in genome sequencing technologies and methodologies, time and data are paramount to maximizing research productivity," said Ram Appalaraju, vice president of marketing, Isilon Systems. "JCVI’s use of Isilon is a prime example of how our scale-out NAS solutions are uniquely designed to power the groundbreaking discoveries in genomics and bioinformatics that will help shape the future of science and personal medicine."