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Layer 8 Networks has helped the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF) supercharge its backup system from tapes to Cloudian's HyperStore solution.
A not-for-profit genomic services provider based in Melbourne, AGRF works within the biomedical, clinical, agricultural and environmental sectors, and processes 10 terabytes of data a week.
It required a move from its tape-based backup system, which involved 16 hours of manually swapping tapes a week, and settled on Cloudian’s HyperStore solution.
“Because we had to spend so much time on backups, we weren’t always available to assist staff if they had an issue arise,” said AGRF ICT manager Douglas Morrison. “In addition, if we needed to retrieve backup data for a project, they had to wait for us to locate the right backup tape and restore it.”
As a result, Cloudian and Layer 8 Networks worked together to deploy the appliances in February over a three day period, giving the AGRF a total capacity of 1.8 petabytes.
It is claimed the solution also came to half the cost of public cloud storage, which Morrison said was a huge consideration for the not-for-profit organisation.
“We liked that Cloudian provided the scalable capacity to meet our future growth needs without the hassle and time required in managing tapes and accessing data,” he said.
Additionally, Cloudian’s HyperFile software was used to move the data into the HyperStore solution.
As well as opening up its storage, AGRF has also managed to increase its footprint in applied markets and commercial diagnostic industries.
In the future, HyperStore will be used by the provider in a project to map the genome of the Australian box jellyfish, which Cloudian claims will help researchers to develop improved antivenoms and possibly therapeutic adjuncts.
“The importance of genome sequencing and mapping has become even more apparent over the past year in the effort to combat the pandemic,” said James Wright, Cloudian’s regional director for A/NZ and Oceania. “This industry is driving medical advancements all over the world and is key to beating the virus.
“Reflecting AGRF’s leading role in the industry, the facility is leveraging its enhanced storage infrastructure to achieve better, faster research results that will enable continued innovation and ultimately improve people’s lives,” he added.
