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Data is generated faster and faster and in ever larger quantities, e.g. in research, in the media sector or in diagnostics. Our software PoINT Archival Gateway solves the problem of storage and archiving. It stores large amounts of data with high transfer rates directly and securely on tape storage systems.
High Performance S3 Object Storage
PoINT Archival Gateway is a software-based and high-performance object storage which supports tape libraries as target storage. In this combination, data volumes in the three-digit petabyte range can be stored and archived without any problems. The decisive factor is that PoINT Archival Gateway receives the data volumes quickly and writes them securely to the tape media. The data can be read again with high performance. Due to its high scalability PoINT Archival Gateway supports transfer rates of more than 1 PB per day.
S3 REST API
As an interface for applications that need to store large amounts of data quickly, PoINT Archival Gateway provides a standardized S3 REST API. Thus, the software can be used without any adaptations for the strongly increasing number of applications supporting object-based storage based on S3 REST. The concept of PoINT Archival Gateway abstracts from the used tape storage systems which are freely selectable and exchangeable.
"We are very satisfied with the deployment of PoINT Archival Gateway and especially with the cooperation and exchange with PoINT and the partner Mercia. We feel well prepared for the future data growth and look forward to follow the further development steps of PoINT Archival Gateway.”
- Marc Riera, Software Development and Operations – Service and Data Management Technical Coordinator at EMBL-EBI
High Parallelism
PoINT Archival Gateway is designed for high parallelism. This applies to the reception of data via the S3 interface as well as to the writing of data to the tape media.
The highly scalable S3 REST web service of PoINT Archival Gateway provides almost unlimited parallelism and very high data transfer rates. PoINT Archival Gateway writes object data directly to the tape media and does not require buffer hard disks. Cumbersome S3 Glacier commands for reading archived data are not necessary.
The write process of an Interface Node can write data to up to 8 tape drives in parallel. In the Enterprise Edition of PoINT Archival Gateway up to 24 Interface Nodes can be configured. Thus, up to 192 tape drives can be used in parallel for write and/or read processes. In total PoINT Archival Gateway supports up to 8 tape libraries with up to 24 drives per library.
The following table shows performance examples for different configurations:
Properties
- Standardized S3 REST API
- High performance S3 object storage directly on tape media
- Highly scalable S3 service for almost unlimited parallelism
- Parallel read/write processes on up to 192 tape drives
Benefits and Advantages
- No costly intermediate storage on disk systems
- Manufacturer independence with regard to the storage system
- Low operating and energy costs
- Investment protection through standards
