Hokkaido University Builds Japan’s Largest Academic Cloud

Hokkaido University is offering researchers unprecedented access to big data analysis of data stored in Japan’s largest academic cloud using DataDirect Networks, Inc.‘s (DDN) WOS object storage, Storage Fusion Architecture  (SFA) high-performance storage engine delivered as complete solution with the company’s GRIDScaler appliance.

Many universities today building HPC-based research computing and engineering infrastructures grapple with the challenge of managing disparate applications and technical requirements with limited budgets. With more than a thousand researchers accessing, sharing and archiving vital research for HPC, data science, machine learning and video surveillance projects, Hokkaido University required a single system with high-performance file storage that would simplify its environment by consolidating its lower performing and specialized storage systems into one, while also providing cloud access for collaboration and data distribution.

With DDN’s big data lifecycle management solution comprising GRIDScaler and WOS technologies, Hokkaido University now can support multiple storage tiers of big data from compute to the cloud. The university takes advantage of GRIDScaler for high performance parallel ingest from large Hadoop data clusters before migrating massive amounts of unstructured data to WOS Cloud Storage, where it remains instantly accessible in a single namespace across file and object data – regardless of the data’s physical location.

Additionally, the uUniversity leverages DDN’s intelligent data lifecycle management capabilities, growing WOS ecosystem and multiple cloud interfaces to share data seamlessly with external cloud-based services, including ownCloud/WebDAV, Google, Swift, S3 and Dropbox.

As the most extensive WOS deployment in Japan, Hokkaido’s use of DDN WOS provides a high performance, infinitely scalable and easy-to-use active archive. Researchers and students can access the system through browsers on their desktops or mobile devices, enabling more efficient content collaboration and faster time to discovery.

The university now can build upon recent research efforts, including one that compressed drug discovery screening from two months to less than a week and another that involved gathering observational data from fishing boats via satellite, processing it using a high-performance, cloud-based cluster, and using the results to predict potential new fishing grounds.

DDN Delivers Complete System Spanning All Tiers From Compute to Cloud
GRIDScaler enterprise parallel file system with NAS interfaces and Cloud extensions is suited for helping Hokkaido University solve its big data challenges while eliminating bottlenecks to maximize application performance.

The energy efficiency, density and ease of management of the GRIDScaler platform will save the school time and money, and the scalability of its academic cloud ensures it will continue to do so for the forseeable future.

WOS-Bridge ensures seamless integration between GRIDScaler and WOS object storage while providing Hokkaido with an automated platform for leveraging the cost, collaboration and archive benefits of the cloud.

As Hokkaido’s cloud grows to encompass multiple sites and different campuses, the team will benefit from WOS intelligent data placement and access functionality, which delivers data to users using the most efficient route with the least latency.

Masaharu Munetomo, Ph.D., professor and vice director of information initiative center, research division of digital concepts, Hokkaido University, said: “DDN’s expertise in supporting multiple storage tiers enables Hokkaido University to manage our complete data lifecycle while ensuring that our academic cloud will be able to scale seamlessly to meet the growing demands of our dynamic research environment.

“DDN was the only company that could support multiple cloud services in a single system – which is critical for ensuring efficient workflows and increased content collaboration across thousands of researchers and students.

“DDN has strong technology leadership in High-Performance Computing and commercial applications, combined with its proven experience in object storage, which enables us to support both our current needs and future expansion plans.

“DDN’s ability to build a strong ecosystem of partners and third-party cloud providers ensures seamless access to multiple cloud-based services and gives our researchers increased flexibility to share vital research data anytime, anywhere.”