The storage upgrade set in motion at CSC when its 80-terabyte storage capacity was rapidly filling up and there were major changes in sight that would increase its storage needs.

The needs for change materialized when the Helsinki Institute of Physics (HIP) decided to acquire storage capacity from CSC for CERN's measurement and computation results. In spring 2008, CERN decided to start-up the LHC particle collider. The purpose of the particle tests to be performed using the collider is to provide new information on the basic structure of matter. The LHC is the world's largest particle accelerator, whose massive tests produce a total of over 15 petabytes of data per year. The LHC accelerator is starting up on September 10, 2008.

CERN distributes computation raw data and preprocessed data to 11 data centres situated in different countries. CSC maintains the Finnish part of CERN's Nordic Tier-1 data centre. In addition, it is building a Tier-2 centre together with the Helsinki Institute of Physics.

CERN data must be preserved for a long time for analysis so CSC needed low-cost, reliable capacity. After competitive bidding, CSC selected Hitachi as its partner.

"We ended up with Hitachi's solution as its expandability offers us possibilities to prepare for the distant future", stated CSC's Development Manager Ari Lukkarinen.

Hitachi's solution consists of Hitachi USP 100 and Hitachi USP VM storage systems and two Hitachi AMS1000 systems. CERN data is managed using the USP VM system, through which the storage capacity of the AMS1000 system has been virtualized.

"CSC's storage environment is globally unique in its class. More than 200 terabytes of data have been virtualized into the AMS1000 systems through USP VM alone. In fact, this is the largest storage solution to have been virtualized through a single device in Finland and one of the largest in the world. Partnership with CSC will strengthen Hitachi's position as the pioneer of demanding storage environments in Finland", stated Kari Savolainen, Country Manager of Hitachi Data Systems.

"The special benefits of Hitachi's USP systems are the virtualization opportunities that they offer. Through virtualization, storage capacity can also be derived from our existing systems. In addition, servers can also utilize the capacity of different manufacturers' storage systems without us having to worry about software compatibility, for example", Ari Lukkarinen pointed out.

The storage environment will continue to expand fast, as CERN data alone is expected to increase CSC's capacity need by 170 terabytes a year. Through USP VM's virtualization, the environment can be expanded flexibly when the capacity of the current AMS1000 equipment is filled up in future.