Aurora DataCloud

Cost-effective storage solution

Aurora DataCloud from Origo is a pioneering, cost-effective storage solution for data that needs to be stored in large quantities for a long time. It was designed for the media industry, to serve as an archiving solution for video and audio but has already proven its value to other types of user, including commercial airlines and museums.

Highly automated and versatile system

Aurora DataCloud was built using an innovative combination of IBM servers, storage and tape systems to create a highly automated, versatile system that users can choose to interact with in a number of ways. It offers customers a low cost, reliable, secure and environmentally friendly solution to the problem of storing large quantities of data for long periods, while keeping the data easily accessible at any time for the users.

IBM and Lenovo components hosted in two Tier III data centers

Origo's Aurora DataCloud consists of IBM and Lenovo components hosted in two Tier III data centers, utilizing synchronous replication between the two sites with geo redundancy. IBM Spectrum Scale protocol nodes serve as GPFS Clients running on Lenovo SR650 Servers, and IBM ESS GL2c serves as GPFS Native Raid data storage on IBM POWER8 servers. IBM Spectrum Archive is integrated with Spectrum Scale and GPFS with IBM TS4500 backend tape libraries and IBM LTO8 tape drives.

Uses less electricity and is cheaper to replace

The system offers several advantages over traditional data storage solutions. The innovative mix of disks and LTO tape requires much less electricity than hard drives alone; it is cheaper to replace and integrating new tape technology as it evolves is simple and relatively low cost; and it enables very large files to be stored – up to 12TB on a cartridge the size of two iPhones. The high level of built-in automation also helps to keep labor costs to a minimum.

Data is always secure and protected

To mitigate the risk of tape corrosion and data redundancy loss, Aurora DataCloud runs automated checks and replaces any tapes that show the slightest hint of deterioration. Aurora DataCloud keeps two synchronous copies of data in two tier III data centers in separate geo-redundant locations, so the data is secure and protected from natural disasters. This means the data can be stored effectively forever.

Renewable energy reduces carbon footprint

Iceland’s exclusive use of geothermal and hydroelectric power means all the energy required to run Aurora DataCloud is renewable – a factor that is particularly appealing to European customers looking to offset their carbon footprint.

Integration with IBM ESS and TS4500

Aurora DataCloud is among the first instances of IBM’s Spectrum Scale and Spectrum Archive software components being integrated with the IBM ESS server and TS4500 tape library.

Reduce cost for large volumes of data

For customers with large volumes of data that they want to store for the long term, Origo’s Aurora DataCloud offers a groundbreaking solution that helps keep cost down without sacrificing accessibility, availability or security.

Geo-redundant setup

The underlying infrastructure of the Data Cloud consist of IBM Elastic Storage Servers (compute & storage), IBM TS4500 Tape Library (Archives) and IBM Spectrum Scale & Spectrum Archive (Software). The solution is in a geo-redundant setup with active-active synchronous replication between Origo´s primary datacenter and our secondary site in Reykjavík. Origo´s DataCloud services are operational ready to receive vast amounts of data (PetaBytes).

Effective cost control

The solution is delivered as a file-share accessed with SMB/NFS and as object storage with a Swift/OpenStack interface that is S3 Compatible. Data in Origo’s DataCloud is stored online with different seek time, depending on the policies set and data location within the storage cloud. Customers can easily control the cost by using policies to keep active data on disk and inactive data in the archive. The solution can be extended to include on-site high-performance storage managed by Origo’s cloud platform and billed by the month. Once a file or object is uploaded to the storage cloud it is instantly available in 2 datacenters regardless of what tier it is in.

IBM Spectrum Scale

IBM Spectrum Scale includes integrated management tools and an intuitive graphical user interface to help manage data at scale. IBM Spectrum Scale can span multiple storage environments and data centers to eliminate data silos and “filer sprawl.” The system can cognitively spread data across multiple storage devices, optimizing available storage utilization, reducing administration and delivering highperformance where needed. IBM Spectrum Scale has multiple deployment options and configurations to incorporate current NFS filers, block storage and storage-rich servers into a global namespace with universal access. IBM Spectrum Scale file system can be used for file (POSIX, NFS, SMB), object (S3, SWIFT) or Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) for in-place analytics.

Core infrastructure