Spectra Logic and Globus Partner to Offer Cost-Effective Tiered Storage

Spectra Logic Corporation and Globus, at Supercomputing 2015 in Austin, TX, unveiled a partnership that incorporates Spectra Logic’s BlackPearl hybrid storage ecosystem and the Globus research data management service.

Globus is an initiative of the University of Chicago, and is supported in part by funding from the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Sloan Foundation.

The cost-effective, joint solution provides Globus users with a turnkey private storage cloud, using a familiar web interface across online, nearline, and offline storage systems.

“By partnering with Spectra Logic, Globus now makes it easy for campus computing centers and other non-profit research computing facilities to offer their users an affordable storage solution that is easy to deploy and manage,” said Steve Tuecke, Globus co-inventor. “Spectra is an ideal partner due to its deep storage expertise in HPC environments. Spectra’s BlackPearl product ecosystem, including their family of tape libraries and ArcticBlue disk products, will offer our customers an easy-to-deploy model, fast access to deep storage, and seamless scalability at a very attractive cost per TB.“

The solution is delivered using a BlackPearl client for Globus Connect Server, the software that enables practically any storage system to be accessed via the Globus service. Spectra Logic’s enhanced BlackPearl Deep Storage Gateway sits in front of deep storage tape and nearline disk archives of all sizes, which allows users to scale at a remarkably low cost. BlackPearl combined with Globus delivers simple, robust storage that is easily integrated with campus security infrastructure to enable streamlined data flows within and among research institutions. The solution offers both on-premise and global access to content, affording all the benefits of public cloud, within the user’s own environment.

“The joint integration allows for HPC and research organizations to stay connected to their archive with simplified file sharing, fast file transfer and data publication, enabled through Globus and BlackPearl,” Matt Starr, CTO, Spectra Logic, said. “By providing Globus users with an easy-to-use and affordable archive, BlackPearl can now be integrated seamlessly into the Globus user community.“