UK Transport Research Laboratory Scales With Pillar

TRL, the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory chose the Axiom from Pillar Data Systems to provide large amounts of data storage capacity on very short notice without causing interruption to data services.

Originally established in 1933 as part of the UK government, TRL provides research and source data as well as investigation services to government and private firms to address a range of transportation issues. Its work includes scans and analysis of road surfaces, accident investigation, regulation and compliance testing, impact testing, extensive reporting services, and even sales of leg and headform impactors to promote pedestrian friendly vehicles.

Because the storage needs differ greatly from project to project, TRL often faces an element of unpredictability in capacity planning. The Axiom helps offset this challenge because it can be dynamically expanded easily and without downtime, and is not hit with performance issues as capacity is added.

"Because we cannot predict how big a project will be when we set it up, scalability was the key factor when evaluating storage systems. This was the most scalable solution we found," said Fred Trigg, Systems Development Manager, TRL. "But we were also impressed by how the Axiom dynamically prioritizes data based on its importance to our business. This allowed for greater use of capacity while maintaining strong performance for our high-priority data and mission-critical applications. The ability to thin-provision was attractive to us as well  – we make full use of that."

The Axiom has a unique capability called storage Quality of Service (QoS) that allows users to set up multiple tiers of storage on a single platform, provisioning storage much like provisioning a virtual server. The Axiom differentiates performance based on application priority, what Pillar calls Application-Aware Storage.

One of TRL’s primary objectives is to conduct commissioned research, investigations, studies and tests to the highest levels of quality, reliability and impartiality. An example of one such research project involved mounting special high-definition cameras on vehicles. The vehicles were then driven at normal speeds on roads to take video of the road surface, amassing up to 200GB of video data per day. The data was analyzed by automated systems, reviewed by staff, and the resulting data was collated and analyzed and presented in reports. Other research projects include multiple inputs, such as various telemetry points on vehicles, brain wave or other sensors on human participants.

"For a company like TRL with various types of data that have continually changing priorities, depending on the project at hand, the Axiom takes out the guess work," said Bob Maness, Vice President Worldwide Marketing and Channel Sales, Pillar Data Systems. "Once your QoS settings are in place, the Application-Aware feature will dynamically assign storage resources based on the application and the priority you’ve assigned to it. This ensures each application receives the appropriate levels of performance, capacity and availability at any given time."

After several months and weighing six different storage options, TRL selected the Pillar Axiom. "The simple management led to big savings in manpower which translated into limited downtime to the business, and reduced overall costs. Pillar’s commitment to low power usage and green technology was an added bonus," said Trigg.

The Pillar Axiom achieves capacity utilization rates far above the industry norm – as much as 80% or more. The Pillar Axiom can dramatically reduce floor space and energy demands, and significantly lower Total Cost of Ownership.