Press Release:  SC|05 StorCloud Initiative Recap

What is StorCloud?

After a successful debut at SC2004, StorCloud continues as a special initiative for SC|05 in Seattle, WA to build a High Performance Computing (HPC) storage capability showcasing HPC storage technologies (topologies, devices, interconnects) and applications. Portions of StorCloud will comprise state of the art heterogeneous devices and technologies to build a virtual on-site "storage on request" capability to support researchers and demonstrate high bandwidth applications at the conference. Other portions will be dedicated to supporting specific applications with predetermined configurations and requirements.

The goals of the "production" StorCloud are to:

• Provide 1 PetaByte or greater of randomly accessible storage to SC|05 participants.
• Approach a 1 TeraByte per second infrastructure bandwidth.
• Provide a 1 GigaByte per second backup bandwidth.
• Provide interoperability between storage systems
• Manage and allocate resources to SC|05 participants.

New to SC|05, there will be a NextGen StorCloud that will showcase emerging storage technologies.

StorCloud will be architected and deployed entirely by volunteers from government, industry and academia. It will combine state of the art access mechanisms, storage devices, and control/management software to provide an extreme storage capability to conference exhibitors. The storage equipment will be attached and assigned to host platforms throughout the convention on an as requested basis. Host platforms will be partitioned, formatted, and use the storage as needed. Sharing devices will also be accommodated between cooperating parties. Additionally, StorCloud will host an applications competition, StorCloud Challenge.