CERN and Toshiba: a tandem that progresses to address data storage and security

Three generations of hard drives from this manufacturer have helped the world's largest physics laboratory keep track of the hundreds of terabytes of data generated every second in the experiments of the Large Hadron Collider.

Located in the particle physics laboratory of the CERN, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is at the forefront of physics research. The data resulting from the phases Run 1 And Run 2 have already been used to prove the existence of a previously undetected subatomic particle and have expanded the understanding of the Universe and its formation.

The magnitude of CERN is astounding: from the size of the Large Hadron Collider – a circular particle accelerator with a radius of 4,3 Km-, to the rate of particle collisions -more than 1.000 Million-, that can be produced every second inside the detectors of the LHC experiment.

Even though, Data volumes lead the way, since collisions generate 1 petabyte (PB) of data per second. Even after filtering only interesting events, Installation requires that they be saved approximately every month 10 PB of new data for analysis.

This data is stored in CERN's Data Center and shared for analysis with a network of 170 centres, thanks to the LHC global computing network (WLCG). CERN's current storage configuration is based on HDD buffers, With 3.200 JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disk) that add up 100.000 hard drives (HDD) and providing a total of 350 PB.

CERN uses hard disk drives Toshiba Electronics Europe to manage large volumes of data from the year 2014; which means three generations of hard drive technology from this manufacturer that has provided the required capacity increases.

The progression will continue when "planned LHC upgrades require scaling compute and storage resources beyond what current technology can deliver.", explains Eric Bonfillou, Director of the Facilities Planning and Procurement Section in the IT Department.

Schedule in storage systems

From 2014, CERN uses high-performance Toshiba server hard drives, Reliability and optimized for the highest capacities. Previously, in the year 2013, CERN conducted a scheduled shutdown phase to prepare for the Run 2 to upgrade your storage systems, adding JBOD arrays of 24 MG03SCA400 hard drive bays from this manufacturer.

With 4TB capacity per HDD, each turning to 7.200 rpm and receiving data through an interface of 6 GB/s, CERN earned 96TB for every expansion JBOD drive. The mean time to failure (MTTF) of HDDs was 1,2 millions of hours, which translates into an annual failure rate forecast (AFR) of 0,72%.

Of 2015 To 2016, CERN initiated the Run 2, as data storage needs increased tremendously, so it adds more capacity using Toshiba's new 6TB STA model. In a front-loading JBOD installation of 24 4U bays, Total gross capacity increased to 144 TB per drive.

From 2016, Toshiba accelerated the development and introduction of new high-capacity enterprise HDD models to meet global cloud data storage requirements for the MG05 and MG06 systems (this reached capacities of up to 10TB per unit), was able to increase the MTTF to 2, 5 millions of hours, which translates into an AFR of 0.35%, currently lowest on the market for air-filled HDDs.

For Conventional Magnetic Recording (CRM) in a 3.5'' form factor, air-filled HDD technology reached a limit of 7 Dishes, With 10 TB capacity. While it is theoretically possible to increase this capacity by using thinner plates, Air was too heavy a gas, causing severe ripple.

As an alternative, Stepped Magnetic Recording technology can be used (Smr), but requires special treatment to avoid serious performance problems and is limited by the need for special file systems, adapted to the complexities of this technology.

The update of CERN storage in 2018 coincided with the launch of Toshiba's MG07 range, the first helium filling with up to 14TB of capacity per HDD. With the acquisition of the variant of 12 Tb, CERN doubled its capacity per JBOD to 288 Tb.

MG07 increases capacity without changing form factor by using helium instead of air, allowing thinner dishes to be used without the associated ripple, with up to nine dishes per unit.

By using CMR technology, the MG07 is suitable for any workload without involving the loss of performance associated with SMR technology. In addition, Helium creates less friction than air, significantly reducing the energy required to rotate the stack of dishes.

With precise shaft motor optimization, The energy required in operation has been reduced by a third (from c.11W to less than 7W) in the helium-based model of the MG07 series.

More demand for data storage

In 2019, the LHC shut down again to install new updates before its restart for the Run 3 In 2021, year in which a significant increase in storage demands is expected due to the acceleration of the data generated.

As Eric Bonfillou points out, "the products and support have met CERN's stringent requirements.. Our IT infrastructure, in terms of computing power and storage capacity, have scaled well with increasing scientific computing needs, taking full advantage of Toshiba's high-capacity, reliable hard drives.".

Toshiba's planned launches of CRM and SMR-based units using the same 3.5" form factor provide CERN with access to 16 and 18TB, Adding 432 New capacity TB per JBOD.

Larry Martinez-Palomo, General Manager of HDD Business Unit at Toshiba Electronics Europe, that's what it points out: "Our Toshiba products are suitable for large-scale storage in data centers and the deployment and operation of three generations of enterprise hard drives in CERN's demanding IT environment is a perfect reference of success story".

As for the longer-term R+D activity, Toshiba is developing a new generation of magnetic recording technology that will further increase capabilities to exceed 20 TB per HDD, maintaining the 3.5" form factor.

"We are confident that our next generation of HDD technologies will contribute to solving CERN's challenging storage capacity challenges ahead., Investment budget, power consumption and reliability", Martinez-Palomo points out.

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