Designing a High Performance Lustre Storage System: A Case Study

caseA smooth-running, large-scale data storage system is more than the sum of its components. It’s the result of many decisions and iterations by designers, using practical rules and guidelines to meet the requirements of the customer.

Intel’s White Paper, “Architecting a High-Performance Storage System,” shows you the step-by-step process in the design of a Lustre file system. It is available for download at insideAI News White Paper Library.

Although a good system is well-balanced, designing it is not straight forward. Fitting components together and making the adjustments needed for peak performance is challenging. The process begins with a requirement analysis followed by  a design structure (a common structure was selected for the paper) and component choices.

Because performance is limited by the slowest component, the design methodology uses a pipeline approach to select and review each part, making sure the system requirements are met. By starting with the backend disk storage, gradually working up the pipeline to the client and employing an iterative design method, the paper show you how a Lustre file system is created.

Download the white paper here.