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Cloudian has announced that the Australian Genome Research Facility ( AGRF ) has deployed Cloudian ’ s S3-compatible object storage solution , enabling AGRF to manage and store its rapidly growing volumes of genome sequencing data more efficiently and cost effectively at a vital time for the industry .
With facilities across Australia , AGRF empowers worldclass genomic science in the biomedical , clinical , agricultural and environmental sectors , with over 15,000 clients worldwide . The organization has been at the center of essential COVID-19 research , from assisting researchers with vaccine development to detecting the virus in wastewater . AGRF is also distinguishing itself by playing a role in sequencing genomes of Australian threatened species to aid conservation efforts .
In an average week , AGRF processes at least 10 terabytes ( TB ) of data – equivalent to one year ’ s worth of data from the Hubble Space Telescope . Because this data is critical for driving some of the world ’ s most important research , AGRF needs a storage system that enables it to easily manage , protect and access the data at the lowest possible cost .
“ We ’ re a data organization in every sense of the word ,” said Douglas Morrison , AGRF ICT Manager . “ Mapping the genome of one patient involves 100 – 125 gigabases , and easily three times that if we ’ re analyzing specific tumor samples . Multiply that by 1,500 patients or so in just one typical study , and the data adds up fast .
AGRF had been using a tape backup system which involved 16 hours of manually swapping tapes in and out every week . This time-consuming process was a huge burden for its small IT team and had begun to impact operations .
“ Because we had to spend so much time on backups , we weren ’ t always available to assist staff if they had an issue arise ,” said Morrison . “ In addition , if we needed to retrieve backup data for a project , they had to wait for us to locate the right backup tape and restore it .”
As its data volumes continued to grow , AGRF realized it needed a better solution . After evaluating alternatives including tape systems and public cloud , the facility chose the Cloudian HyperStore solution for its scalability , ease of management and cost-effectiveness .
“ We liked that Cloudian provided the scalable capacity to meet our future growth needs without the hassle and time required in managing tapes and accessing data ,” said Morrison . “ In addition , the Cloudian HyperStore solution was half the cost of public cloud storage , a huge consideration for AGRF as a not-for-profit organization .”
AGRF deployed HyperStore appliances with a total capacity of 1.8 petabytes , using Cloudian ’ s HyperFile software to move data to HyperStore . The adoption of the Cloudian solution has brought huge benefits to the leading sequencing provider .
“ Some of our clinical clients require urgent turnaround times for decisions on how to treat a patient – particularly in the case of cancer screening . We ’ re working on a project now where we ’ re aiming to significantly decrease our turnaround times to enable faster decisions . That accelerated process is possible because of how quickly we can handle all the data .”
Cloudian has also enabled AGRF to increase its footprint in fast-growing applied markets and commercial diagnostic industries . In addition , the organization will leverage HyperStore in an upcoming project to map the genome of the infamous Australian box jellyfish , helping researchers to develop improved antivenoms and possibly therapeutic adjuncts .
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