UW Information Technology provides a cluster-based, scalable file system for storage of research data, which is named part of the Lolo file system.

 

This system has high speed (10GB) connections to HYAK, Internet, I2, UW-IT managed servers (via NFS), and UW campus networks, and provides a variety of access protocols depending on the user's network location:

 

Access Location	Available Protocols
Hyak systems	GPFS, ssh
UW-IT Managed Servers	GPFS, SMB/CIFS, ssh
UW campus networks	SMB/CIFS, ssh
External networks	ssh, HPNSSH

 

Backups are not performed on files stored in this filesystem. Intended use cases include shared access to downloaded datasets and staging of data for Hyak processing pipelines.

 

This shared file system is designed to be cost effective when compared to investing in local storage systems with a 3 year purchase commitment.  The system is designed for general interactive usage of large and small files with random R/W pattern.

 

This service design is intended to provide UW researchers with an alternative to building and operating their own systems for collaboration. The financial risk model for subscribers is similar to building a standalone system, but the costs are likely to be lower, the quality higher,  and the list of features richer.