DDN EXAScaler. Image: DDN
Do you remember Chroma, the software from Whamcloud that allows to deploy and manage Lustre installations with a web interface?
In April 2012, DataDirect Networks (DDN) announced they have successfully integrated Chroma into their EXAScaler storage system. I believe it is a major step towards the wider recognition and adoption of Lustre, and not just in the HPC segment but, more importantly, in the general computing community as well.
One particular feature of EXAScaler is that it can be attached via InfiniBand interface — isn’t that great?! This way Lustre can easily enjoy high bandwidth provided by the InfiniBand fabric. I can’t wait when InfiniBand enters commodity data centres. And it will be even better if InfiniBand and Lustre come together. Those two powerful technologies can benefit the commodity server segment very well.
But wait — there is more. Rich Brueckner of insideHPC recently interviewed Percy Tzelnic, the Senior Vice President of EMC Corporation about the ongoing collaboration between EMC and Whamcloud. I find this fragment rather exciting:
insideHPC: How will this collaboration help with the goal of getting the Lustre client included in the upstream Linux kernel?
Percy Tzelnic: EMC is interested in making Lustre readily consumable by our commercial HPC customers. EMC is collaborating with the Linux community and Whamcloud to enable the availability of Lustre client software as part of the standard Linux distribution.
Just imagine — no more specific kernel version requirements or kernel patches, all your Lustre client functionality will be available on your ordinary server. That’s great news, indeed.
