Spectra Logic wins contract for TACC supercomputer data archive
Spectra Logic has been selected to provide its tape library technology for the Texas Advanced Computing Centre's (TACC) 'Horizon' supercomputer's exabyte-scale data archive. Horizon will be one of the largest and fastest academic supercomputers dedicated to open scientific research worldwide. The new archiving system, known as Ranch, will manage and preserve vast volumes of data created by the centre's latest high-performance computing facility.
Archival infrastructure
The data storage system will use Spectra Logic's TFinity Plus tape libraries as its long-term storage platform. Initially, the implementation will consist of two 15-frame tape libraries with 20 LTO-9 drives, providing capacity for one exabyte of data. Plans are in place to upgrade the system further with the addition of sixteen LTO-10 drives for even greater storage density. The TFinity libraries feature custom longhorn cattle graphics, aligning with TACC's Texan roots and providing an educational visual for visitors and tour groups.
Collaborative approach
The project also includes collaboration with Dell Technologies and Versity. Versity's ScoutAM software will run on 13 Dell PowerEdge R760 servers to manage and automate data movement between several hardware platforms, including five Dell ME5 storage arrays, 16 PB of Dell ECS object storage, and the Spectra TFinity tape libraries. This policy-driven automation is designed to scale with TACC's research demands.
Research demands
Horizon is expected to provide a tenfold improvement in simulation performance and a significant leap in AI capabilities, making robust archival solutions essential for the institution's scientific community. The Ranch archive system is designed for long-term, cost-effective retention of the massive workloads Horizon will generate. The system's storage automation aims to enable researchers to efficiently manage and retrieve the data needed for ongoing and future studies.
Preferred choice
Versity ScoutAM and Spectra Logic TFinity libraries continue to be used at large-scale research centres, including U.S. national laboratories, supercomputing facilities, and data-intensive media organisations. The partners aim to provide reliability and data integrity for academic institutions managing complex AI and simulation workloads.
"As we prepare to launch Horizon, what will be the most powerful academic supercomputer ever built for open science, we needed a solution that could ensure the performance, reliability, and long-term data integrity that our research community depends on," said Dan Stanzione, Associate Vice President for Research at The University of Texas at Austin and Executive Director, TACC. "The combined solution from Spectra Logic, Dell Technologies, and Versity delivers exactly that, trusted technology with a proven track record at the world's leading HPC centers."
