Western Digital Joins iRODS Consortium

Western Digital Corporation is an active contributor to iRODS, a membership-based consortium that develops and supports the integrated Rule-Oriented Data System (iRODS), an open source software platform for storing, searching, and sharing large files and datasets.

iRODS peer-to-peer server architecture

Thousands of organizations around the world use iRODS for flexible, policy-based management of files and metadata that span across diverse storage devices and locations. WDC will initially contribute advanced HGST S3 connector technology to the iRODS architecture to enhance cloud connectivity.

“We are impressed with HGST’s enthusiastic support for the work iRODS is doing, and look forward to its participation in helping to advance the iRODS architecture in the market,” said Dan Bedard, director, iRODS Consortium. “As an iRODS member and contributor, HGST will play an important role in directing iRODS technology and in the governance of the consortium.“

WDC is an industry developer and manufacturer of storage solutions that enable people to create, leverage, experience and preserve data. Last April, the company released the HGST Active Archive System, an integrated, Amazon S3 compliant, scale-out object storage solution delivering 4.7 PB of raw storage in a single rack. Leveraging HelioSeal helium-filled disk drive technology and end-to-end optimization of system software and hardware, the system provides the industry’s best capacity, density and TCO with support for geo-dispersed replication, data-at-rest encryption (DARE), as well as distributed erasure coding for cloud-scale data durability and reliability.

“iRODS is a key component in our strategy to provide the highest quality, innovative, active archiving solution available,” said Barbara Murphy, VP marketing, WDC. “As members of iRODS, we look forward to working closely with development teams to help enhance S3 connectivity to enable smarter data movement within life sciences research and related data-intensive applications.“