Performance of a distributed superscalar storage server

The RS/6000 performed well in our test environment. The potential exists for the RS/6000 to act as a departmental server for a small number of users, rather than as a high speed archival server. Multiple UniTree Disk Server's utilizing one UniTree Disk Server's utilizing one UniTree Name Server could be developed that would allow for a cost effective archival system. Our performance tests were clearly limited by the network bandwidth. The performance gathered by the LibUnix testing shows that UniTree is capable of exceeding ethernet speeds on an RS/6000 Model 550. The performance of FTP might be significantly faster if asked to perform across a higher bandwidth network. The UniTree Name Server also showed signs of being a potential bottleneck. UniTree sites that would require a high ratio of file creations and deletions to reads and writes would run into this bottleneck. It is possible to improve the UniTree Name Server performance by bypassing the UniTree LibUnix Library altogether and communicating directly with the UniTree Name Server and optimizing creations. Although testing was performed in a less than ideal environment, hopefully the performance statistics stated in this paper will give end-users a realistic idea as to what performance they can expect in this type of setup

The architecture of the High Performance Storage System (HPSS)

The rapid growth in the size of datasets has caused a serious imbalance in I/O and storage system performance and functionality relative to application requirements and the capabilities of other system components. The High Performance Storage System (HPSS) is a scalable, next-generation storage system that will meet the functionality and performance requirements or large-scale scientific and commercial computing environments. Our goal is to improve the performance and capacity of storage by two orders of magnitude or more over what is available in the general or mass marketplace today. We are also providing corresponding improvements in architecture and functionality. This paper describes the architecture and functionality of HPSS

Measurements over distributed high performance computing and storage systems

A strawman proposal is given for a framework for presenting a common set of metrics for supercomputers, workstations, file servers, mass storage systems, and the networks that interconnect them. Production control and database systems are also included. Though other applications and third part software systems are not addressed, it is important to measure them as well

Current state of the mass storage system reference model

IEEE SSSWG was chartered in May 1990 to abstract the hardware and software components of existing and emerging storage systems and to define the software interfaces between these components. The immediate goal is the decomposition of a storage system into interoperable functional modules which vendors can offer as separate commercial products. The ultimate goal is to develop interoperable standards which define the software interfaces, and in the distributed case, the associated protocols to each of the architectural modules in the model. The topics are presented in viewgraph form and include the following: IEEE SSSWG organization; IEEE SSSWG subcommittees & chairs; IEEE standards activity board; layered view of the reference model; layered access to storage services; IEEE SSSWG emphasis; and features for MSSRM version 5

Robo-line storage: Low latency, high capacity storage systems over geographically distributed networks

Rapid advances in high performance computing are making possible more complete and accurate computer-based modeling of complex physical phenomena, such as weather front interactions, dynamics of chemical reactions, numerical aerodynamic analysis of airframes, and ocean-land-atmosphere interactions. Many of these 'grand challenge' applications are as demanding of the underlying storage system, in terms of their capacity and bandwidth requirements, as they are on the computational power of the processor. A global view of the Earth's ocean chlorophyll and land vegetation requires over 2 terabytes of raw satellite image data. In this paper, we describe our planned research program in high capacity, high bandwidth storage systems. The project has four overall goals. First, we will examine new methods for high capacity storage systems, made possible by low cost, small form factor magnetic and optical tape systems. Second, access to the storage system will be low latency and high bandwidth. To achieve this, we must interleave data transfer at all levels of the storage system, including devices, controllers, servers, and communications links. Latency will be reduced by extensive caching throughout the storage hierarchy. Third, we will provide effective management of a storage hierarchy, extending the techniques already developed for the Log Structured File System. Finally, we will construct a protototype high capacity file server, suitable for use on the National Research and Education Network (NREN). Such research must be a Cornerstone of any coherent program in high performance computing and communications

Performance modeling of network data services

Networks at major computational organizations are becoming increasingly complex. The introduction of large massively parallel computers and supercomputers with gigabyte memories are requiring greater and greater bandwidth for network data transfers to widely dispersed clients. For networks to provide adequate data transfer services to high performance computers and remote users connected to them, the networking components must be optimized from a combination of internal and external performance criteria. This paper describes research done at Sandia National Laboratories to model network data services and to visualize the flow of data from source to sink when using the data services

The challenge of a data storage hierarchy

A discussion of Mesa Archival Systems' data archiving system is presented. This data archiving system is strictly a software system that is implemented on a mainframe and manages the data into permanent file storage. Emphasis is placed on the fact that any kind of client system on the network can be connected through the Unix interface of the data archiving system

NSSDC Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies for Space and Earth Science Applications, volume 2

This report contains copies of nearly all of the technical papers and viewgraphs presented at the NSSDC Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies for Space and Earth Science Application. This conference served as a broad forum for the discussion of a number of important issues in the field of mass storage systems. Topics include the following: magnetic disk and tape technologies; optical disk and tape; software storage and file management systems; and experiences with the use of a large, distributed storage system. The technical presentations describe, among other things, integrated mass storage systems that are expected to be available commercially. Also included is a series of presentations from Federal Government organizations and research institutions covering their mass storage requirements for the 1990's