Netherlands-Based SURFsara Adopting Scality Ring Object Storage

Scality, Inc. announced that Netherlands-based SURF, a collaborative IT organization for education and research, is using Scality RING object storage as its storage back-end to its SURFdrive cloud storage service under its SURFsara HPC division.

SURFdrive delivers secure, reliable, and continually available storage to more than 25,000 researchers working in 50 higher education institutions across the region. The system relies on RING to protect, share, and synchronize files within the subscription-based cloud.

Originally built on Gluster, SURFdrive was immobilized by unacceptable, days-long episodes of downtime as that legacy system ineffectively struggled to serve subscribers while rebalancing data. RING topped IBM Spectrum Scale as the ultimate replacement solution and was installed to best support SURFsara’s zero-downtime prerequisites and scalability requirements. This year will see additional subscribers and expansion into medical center recruitment. SURFsara will also deploy new data centers spanning three geographical locations, all using RING.

“The scalability, reliability, and performance gained with the trade-up to Scality RING propelled SURFdrive to a service-level that exceeds the rigorous uptime and data-sharing requirements of its academic research users,” said Erwan Menard, president and COO, Scality. “This underpins the value of Scality RING for collaborative research pursuits that demand zero downtime and maximum flexibility.“

About SURFsara
SURFsara provides HPC and data infrastructure for science and industry, maintaining a bridge between research and advanced ICT. The organization facilitates scientific research and develops initiatives across the scientific community and diverse business audiences.