Genomics Sequencing Provider Preserves Unique Data with StorNext File System

As a provider of genomics sequencing solutions supporting advanced cancer therapies and treatments, it is a critical requirement to safely store data while maintaining access to it over the long term. As data growth accelerates with advancements in sequencing technologies, finding ways to cost-effectively preserve data becomes most paramount. Quantum’s active archive solution, powered by the StorNext File System, delivers a scalable, flexible, and cost-effective way for a genomics sequencing solution provider to preserve its unique data at 10% of primary NAS costs without sacrificing data resiliency and accessibility.

Challenges and Requirements
In April 2003, the human genome was sequenced in its entirety for the first time - the beginning of a new era in medical research. The possibilities of identifying and treating diseases based on a person’s individual genome opened our minds to immunotherapies and individualized medicine. A biopharmaceutical research company is providing genomic sequencing solutions to support the development of advanced cancer therapies and treatments. Their DNA-sequencing research generates petabytes of data that is processed, analyzed, and used to inform cancer treatments.

  • The company’s services depend on an infrastructure that supports high-throughput data ingest and movement across storage platforms.
  • Raw data, results data, and the associated software versions and configuration files are sent to an archive.
  • Their archive holds over 700 million files and consumes over 10 PB of capacity. Storing that amount of data on disk drives added costs, such as cooling, power, and floor space.
  • Cloud was considered in support of archiving, but the cost of egress was too high. The frequent access to data in the archive made cloud an expensive option.

The company’s business relies on its ability to generate, analyze, share, and retain data, and approached Quantum for its archive solution, which combined StorNext’s comprehensive lifecycle management capabilities with tape.

Solution
Storage systems are designed to deliver three fundamental services: performance, capacity, and data protection. It is well understood that higher performance increases the cost per increment of capacity. Though the value of data may not change over time, access patterns and performance demands do. The industry views the two ends of a performance continuum as high performance on one end and archive on the other. Few organizations require enough throughput to ingest 100 TB of data in one day for archiving. Though several systems can support 2 GB/s throughput, the cost of doing so can be prohibitive. To resolve the need for throughput against the need for cost efficiency, the company selected the Quantum StorNext File System platform.

Results
As a result, the provider’s StorNext archive is home to 700 million files over 10 PB of storage capacity. Looking ahead, the company is planning on expanding its archive capacity by licensing additional slots in the library. Adding SSD-based storage systems will increase the throughput capabilities of the archive. As the amount of data generated by gene sequencers increases, the company is confident in its ability to store data securely and efficiently.