Case Studies

Backup and Restore Solution for a US Federal Agency

Overview

When it comes to scientific research organizations, the United States is pioneering the way. Xinnor is proud to be working with a leading U.S. Federal Agency focused on scientific research.

Together with our partner, Advanced HPC, a leading provider of high-performance computing and data-storage solutions, we worked to replace an aging HDD-based storage array that was used to backup scientific data, databases, and filesystem snapshots using the Commvault's Backup and Recovery enterprise data protection. After being initially stored on a fast storage array, Commvault Media Agent moves the data to tape for long-term archiving. The previous solution was a bottleneck in terms of recording the incoming backup data and could not saturate the throughput to the Spectra Logic T950 tape library with five LTO6 drives. The limited performance of the HDD-based storage array created limitations in terms of data availability and data protection.

Advanced HPC together with Xinnor proposed a solution for Commvault Media Agent based on NVMe SSD and xiRAID, a software RAID designed to maximize NVMe performance while assuring data integrity in case of multiple drive failures.

Being a U.S. public agency, the project was registered as a public procurement on the NASA SEWP platform.

Requirements

  • High performance concurrent read-and-write performance with latest NVMe drives.
  • No single point of failure when it comes to the NVMe drives and RAID solution.
  • Data protection: ensure data integrity and availability.
  • Cost effective: the solution should fit into the allocated budget.
  • Future growth: the customer plans to add new LTO9 Tape systems and increase write-throughput to the system.
  • Seamless integration with Commvault.
  • Minimal downtime updates for the Linux based Media Agent server.

The solution delivered by Xinnor together with Advanced HPC is based on Twelve 30TB and Two 6.4TB Gen4 NVMe SSD drives. xiRAID is used as the software RAID block storage creating Two RAID5 block devices in 5+1 configurations and One RAID1 array (in 1+1 configuration).

System specification:

  • GIGABYTE R282-Z94-00
  • AMD EPYC 7453
  • RAM 256GB
  • 12x Micron 6500 ION 30.72 TB NVMe GEN4
  • 2x Micron 7500 Max 6.4TB Gen4
US Federal Agency - Requirements

When selecting the RAID solution, the customer considered various options available on the market to find the best fit for their needs. The system engineer responsible for the storage infrastructure at this U.S .Federal Agency remarked, "During the evaluation process, we considered hardware RAID solutions, but discovered that xiRAID software-based solution was the most efficient in terms of performance and value. It not only met but exceeded our expectations for this critical deployment."

On top of xiRAID, XFS was mounted as the filesystem. Commvault was used as the data backup and recovery solution with automatic data migration to the SpectraLogic tape archive system.

xiRAID Benefits

xiRAID is engineered to optimize data protection and access speeds within storage environments. In this deployment, xiRAID played a critical role in:

  1. Data protection: xiRAID employs advanced algorithms to provide redundancy and fault tolerance, ensuring that data remains safe even in the event of multiple drive failures. The implementation of two RAID5 groups allows to withstand the concurrent failure of one drive inside each of the RAID groups in the storage server, giving peace of mind in terms of data accessibility.
  2. Performance acceleration: the cluster accelerated by xiRAID was able to saturate the network in both read- and write-operation. This speed allows to keep the tape archive system busy at all times and to ensure a fast landing zone for various backups and snapshots.
  3. Ease of deployment: xiRAID Classic exposes a block device within the linux kernel, for easy integration with the file system. Mounting XFS over xiRAID block device was straightforward requiring minimal manual intervention, which accelerated overall deployment time. Furthermore, Commvault was able to seamlessly use the provisioned storage.
  4. Scalability: in case More performance is required in the future, xiRAID is capable of saturating faster networks with the existing solution.
  5. Cost optimization: xiRAID doesn’t require any hardware. There’s no need to install a x16 PCIe card dedicated to run the RAID, so no need to waste the PCIe slot and related PCIe lanes that can be better reserved for future network expansion.
  6. No single point of failure: xiRAID does not use a DPU- or GPU-hardware accelerator, ensuring that there is no single point of failure when it comes to the RAID solution.

Conclusion

The deployment of Xinnor's xiRAID as part of this critical backup and restore solution showcases its ability to deliver high performance, reliability, and cost-efficiency tailored to the unique needs of a U.S. Federal Agency. Through seamless integration with Commvault, xiRAID ensured effortless configuration and operation within the agency’s existing backup and archiving workflows. The straightforward deployment process, with minimal manual intervention, significantly accelerated implementation timelines.

The project, secured via the NASA SEWP public procurement platform, highlights the streamlined procurement procedure that enabled Advanced HPC and Xinnor to promptly deliver a cutting-edge solution. This deployment underscores xiRAID’s strengths in high-performance storage systems, scalability for future growth, and robust data protection without compromising on budget constraints.

Xinnor's xiRAID, combined with Advanced HPC’s expertise, proved to be a transformative upgrade for the agency, providing a sustainable and future-proof storage infrastructure.