Large-scale scientific organizations are grappling with the implications of rapid data growth and the constant drive to optimize the value of their data. Massive data collections, analytics and the need for data collaboration amongst researchers are driving the need for high-performance storage solutions that can deliver time to results, fast.

As a result, a different breed of storage, data management and application acceleration technologies developed originally for the supercomputing industry are being adapted to meet the needs of technical computing organizations. With the addition of integrated data security, compatibility with both traditional IT and Web-based applications, and the ability to leverage the cloud, high-performance storage solutions are rapidly accelerating today’s large-scale scientific computing environments.

In the midst of this transition, the storage industry is experiencing massive winds of change in the rapid evolution of cloud, flash/solid state storage and open source software. With such rapidly evolving technology, organizations need the flexibility to leverage today’s technologies and rapidly adopt new technologies as they become available. With a software defined storage (SDS) strategy, all of these goals become a reality to accomplish. SDS enables:

• improved agility, with faster time to proof-of-concept and the ability to manage across locations and classes of storage
• increased flexibility, with a choice of hardware platforms and the ability to migrate to new platforms in the future
• accelerated speed of innovation through leveraging the latest interconnect, flash and storage technologies as they become available
• reduced CAPEX/OPEX, with fewer personnel needed to manage the environment and reduced dependence on multiple vendor integration

Fast-paced digital data creation coupled with organizational desires to amass, store and access massive volumes of data are amplifying the need for intelligent and truly different solutions for large-scale data sets, efficient flash utilization, archive storage tiers that enable rapid data access, and more. The key is to do your research and use some of these trending technologies to support new solutions that are flexible, lower cost, and deliver increased return on investment. Even if you are not the “trendy” type, you will want to check out some of the latest solutions, especially those that leverage SDS.

Michael King is Senior Director of Marketing at DataDirect Networks (DDN).