Storage management simplified at research institute

The data collected and analysed at Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in Sydney could unlock the mysteries of a range of conditions, from cancer to brain conditions and developmental abnormalities.

CMRI researchers study human genetics and cell biology and share the findings with a global network of scientists in an effort to develop ways to prevent and treat these illnesses. When CMRI added two new technologies to enhance research, the IT group knew it was time to update the storage area network (SAN) that housed its research data.

The team also saw opportunities to protect data more effectively and reduce the time and money spent on IT administration while also supporting the institute’s critical research. “We wanted a better way to back up research data. If a scientist made an error or mistakenly deleted a file, he or she might have to take a full day to run the experiment again,” says Darryn Capes-Davis, CMRI’s ICT Manager.

With storage administration interfering with the critical medial research carried out at the institute, CMRI was also looking for a less time-consuming way to manage its data. “Our small IT group was spending way too much time on storage management. We wanted a solution that would let us focus on new projects so we could better contribute to the success of the institute,” says Capes-Davis.

After considering solutions from other vendors, the IT group selected a Fluid Data storage architecture from Compellent.

The primary SAN spreads data across two tiers. The first tier uses fast fibre channel drives to store active data, while the second tier uses cost-effective SATA drives for inactive files. With Compellent’s Fluid Data technology, particularly its automated tiered storage feature, CMRI has been able to migrate data from the first to second tier of storage based on predefined rules.

The secondary Compellent SAN, which uses cheaper SATA drives, enables the IT group to reduce its backup window and replicate frequent snapshots to a remote site located 20 km away.

CMRI can now automatically create space-efficient snapshots of data called Replays to help protect research data. Replays use minimal storage by only duplicating new data written since the previous snapshot in the file.

Using the Thin Replication technology, the IT group replicates copies of snapshots to its remote site. “If something goes wrong at our primary site, we have a much better opportunity to recover data now than before. “Compellent also makes it simple to set up rules for how long to retain each Replay - and it just runs automatically, without us having to manage it.

“Fluid Data management enables us to provision the capacity a research project needs without wasting unused storage space,” says Capes-Davis. “As the project approaches its limit, we can easily re-provision the space so we don’t have to buy more capacity than we are actually using. Now we can give the new microscopic applications the capacity they need while also supporting research in other areas.”

With a Fluid Data architecture in place, CMRI is better prepared for the future. “The Compellent SANs give us a reliable backup system that helps us provide excellent support for researchers,” says Capes-Davis. “Its Fluid Data management makes handling the SANs a very easy task, enabling our team to help the scientists focus on what’s truly important - carrying out vital medical research.”