INDUSTRY

Leading University of California Research Unit Optimizes Data Availability for Hundreds of Staff and Partner Scientists and Engineers Worldwide: Brocade today announced that San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), a world-acclaimed research center that enables engineering discoveries using high-performance computing resources, is optimizing access to one of the world's largest data storage infrastructures using a comprehensive Storage Area Network (SAN) solution and support program from Brocade. A division of University of California, San Diego, SDSC relies on leading-edge Brocade technology and expertise to help keep its Brocade SAN operating at peak performance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a result, the 400-employee research center ensures that its staff and partners in science, industry, and academia sustain the continuous access to data that their groundbreaking research projects require. "At SDSC, we have a very complex, high-performance data environment that must remain accessible to deliver data, archived information, and Web services to our staff and partners throughout the world," said Bryan Bannister, Manager of SAN and Server Infrastructure at SDSC. "Brocade provides us with access to technical resources to resolve issues before they become critical. Brocade gives us the peace of mind that we'll always have the help to ensure services remain available for our user community, maximizing their research efficiency as well as our investment in Brocade SAN solutions." A Reliable Solution for Supporting a Vast Storage Infrastructure Since its founding in 1985, La Jolla, California-based SDSC has provided more than 10,000 researchers at 300 academic, government, and industrial institutions with powerful high-end computing resources, including DataStar, a 15.6 teraflop IBM Power4+ supercomputer. In 2004, SDSC set the world record for parallel file system transfer rates at the annual SuperComputing conference using Brocade SAN directors. Today, the organization serves as a critical IT partner to large-scale research efforts in life sciences, geosciences, engineering, and other disciplines. SDSC researchers collaborate on projects ranging from cellular signaling to earthquake effects. SDSC also maintains a diverse array of database, computing, storage, and Web server resources dedicated to specific programs and internal development efforts. In the last two decades, SDSC's data infrastructure has soared to include 1.4 petabytes of online disk storage with more than 25 petabytes of archived storage, plus 3 petabytes of hosted storage, making it one of the largest storage infrastructures in the world. To support its growing data requirements, SDSC has added Brocade SAN switches and directors at an increasingly rapid rate, culminating with the recent purchase of Brocade 48000 Directors to improve SAN capacity and the data transfer speed for its IBM- based storage system. By providing 4 Gbit/sec throughput, the Brocade 48000 improves performance of applications and file retrieval for users. This has increased productivity, enabling researchers to perform their jobs and conduct research more rapidly. In addition, "the higher port capacity provided by the new director has improved SAN reliability," said Bannister. SDSC contracted with Brocade for Direct Support services for all of its Brocade products, after years of success using Brocade SAN solutions. The Direct Support plan includes 24x7 technical phone support from engineers located at Brocade's state-of-the-art Technical Assistance Center in San Jose, California. In addition, the plan provides direct access to new product features and enhancements. "Brocade comes through quickly whenever we need support," Bannister concluded. "We can call any time 24 hours, seven days a week and speak directly to a Brocade engineer Brocade Support staff representatives are very professional, friendly, and helpful, and they have the knowledge to help us resolve our issues quickly. The service has been outstanding."