High Performance Storage System |
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Incremental Scalability
Based on storage needs and deployment schedules, HPSS scales incrementally by adding computer, network and storage resources. A single HPSS namespace can scale from petabytes of data to exabytes of data, from millions of files to billions of files, and from a few file-creates per second to thousands of file-creates per second.
About HPSS :
The Big Picture
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Below is the big picture of an HPSS storage system, with overview details of the user interfaces supported by HPSS (at the top); an illustration the showcases our use of IBM Db2 for metadata on flash storage; the RHEL platforms and silicon technologies supported by HPSS; the incrementally scalable disk and tape hierarchies that point to the disk and tape storage hardware. For additaionl details, select one of the tabs.

View the big picture in a separate window
Linux Platforms
Hardware Vendor NeutralThe HPSS Collaboration agrees that the HPSS software shall remain hardware vendor neutral. HPSS Core Server, HPSS Mover, and client software runs on Linux platform, and supports x86-64 and PPC-64 L.E. servers. Customers run HPSS software on Dell, HP, IBM, Lenovo, and other popular enterprise class rack mounted servers.
RHEL 7 & 8 (x86-64) | ||||
RHEL 7 & 8 (PPC-64 L.E.) | ||||
Ubuntu 18 (x86-64) | ||||
SLES 15 (x86-64) | ||||
RHEL variants (e.g. Rocky Linux) |
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B.E. = Best Effort Support
- HPSS Support will accept calls for HSI-HTAR software on RHEL variants such as Rocky Linux.
- HPSS Support will not require that the issue be reproduced on a supported platform (e.g. RHEL) before beginning problem determination.
- HPSS Support will be unable to address the call report if it becomes apparent that the issue is due to a defect in the underlying distribution. Problem resolution should then be pursued by the customer within the open source community or distribution provider.
Detailed HPSS Client Interface Compatibility Matrix
Find more details on each user inteface on the "User Interfaces" tab. This table is also duplicated on the "User Interfaces" tab.
FTP |
Gateway |
PIO4 |
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RHEL 7 & 8 (x86-64) | ||||||
RHEL 7 & 8 (PPC-64 L.E.) | ||||||
Ubuntu 18 (x86-64) | ||||||
SLES 15 (x86-64) | ||||||
- HPSSFS Fuse servers available on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 64-bit kernels.
- HSI gateway available on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 64-bit kernels. HSI and HTAR clients run on a number of platforms
- HPSS User Interface Client support for operating systems not listed in the table above may be provided by special services. See HPSS Offerings for offering details, and contact us.
- The PIO API requires the Client API.
Metadata Storage
Metadata describing the files in HPSS are managed by Db2 relational databases. Each relational database has tables and index files, transaction log files, archived transaction log files, and database backup files.HPSS Metadata Best Practices:
- Store Db2 tables, index files, transaction logs, log archives, and backups on solid state storage.
- NVMe is best for IOPS and bandwidth - IOPS for fast database transactions, and bandwidth for fast backup performance.
- Use two physically-separate RAID-protected pools of storage (the minimum requirement would be two RAID-1 devices using four NVMe drives).
- Expect to allocate about 10 TB of metadata storage per billion files for each high availability copy.
- Integrate the Db2 recovery files into your site backup strategy; it is not acceptable to store the Db2 backups into HPSS.
Optional HPSS Metadata Redundancy
Db2 log shipping is used to replicate HPSS metadata to a second Db2 instance. The second instnace of Db2 can be located in a different rack, room, building, or city; and is often located with the second copy of data on tape. Db2 log shipping is used to reduce downtime caused by hardware failures.
Disk and Tape Storage Hardware
HPSS Disk Cache: HPSS supports raw block storage devices like DDN SFA-12K, NetApp E5600, IBM FlashSystem V7000, IBM V5030 and similar enterprise class block storage units. Additionally, HPSS supports block device files on file systems such as OpenZFS and Spectrum Scale.HPSS Tape Libraries: HPSS software is tested with IBM, Oracle, Quantum and Spectra Logic tape libraries. Contact us if support for another library vendor is desired.
HPSS Tape Drives: HPSS software is tested with LTO and Enterprise tape drives from the tape library vendors we support.
User Interfaces
HPSS Storage BrokerHPSS Storage Broker is used to store, protect, and error correct project datasets across a wide variety of archive storage including public and private S3 object stores, file systems and HPSS. The limited availability release of HPSS Storage Broker was provided to HPSS customers upon request in 4Q 2020, and will be made generally available in 3Q 2021.
SwiftOnHPSS
SwiftOnHPSS for OpenStack Swift is an S3 interface for HPSS that supports automatic class of service (COS) selection, automatic HPSS end-to-end data integrity support with OpenStack Swift md5 object checks ums, and shared access of Swift objects by other HPSS interfaces.
HPSS for Spectrum Scale (GHI)
Intended for HPC use, HPSS can be coupled with Spectrum Scale (previously named GPFS) to automatically: copy files from Spectrum Scale to HPSS; purge Spectrum Scale files that are not being used when space thresholds are reached; recall files from HPSS when accessed by Spectrum Scale users; and save a point-in-time snapshot of Spectrum Scale. HPSS for Spectrum Scale allows multiple Spectrum Scale file syste ms to be managed by a single HPSS.
HPSSFS Fuse 2.2
Linux applications benefit from a near-POSIX standard read-write file system interface. This interface enables HPSS to be mounted as a Linux file system in user space (Fuse). Customers are using HPSSFS Fuse with Open SSL (encrypted file transfer solution), MinIO (S3 object storage solution), OpenStack (object storage solution), SaMBa (MS Windows file sharing), NFS (POSIX file sharing), DSpace (restful open di gital repository solution), and Bacula (site backup solutions).
pFTP & FTP
The high performance Parallel FTP (PFTP) interface moves files in and out of HPSS at high data rates. Standard FTP and high-performance parallel FTP commands are both supported.
HSI & HTAR
The Hierarchical Storage Interface (HSI) provides a familiar UNIX shell-style interface for managing and transferring files. HPSS parallel file transfers are done automatically. HTAR is a utility for storing groups of files using the POSIX TAR specification and a high performance multithreaded buffering scheme to transfer files directly to and from HPSS. Online documentation for HSI and HTAR is found here.
API & PIO
The Client API is the most powerful interface in terms of control, performance, and rich functionality. The HPSS Client API is the foundation of every HPSS interface, and customers have ported open source applications including:
- NFS Ganesha
- gridFTP
- Secure FTP
- iRODS
- Lustre CopyTool
HPSS Client Interface Compatibility Matrix
FTP |
Gateway |
PIO4 |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RHEL 7 & 8 (x86-64) | ||||||
RHEL 7 & 8 (PPC-64 L.E.) | ||||||
Ubuntu 18 (x86-64) | ||||||
SLES 15 (x86-64) | ||||||
- HPSSFS Fuse servers available on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 64-bit kernels.
- HSI gateway available on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 64-bit kernels. HSI and HTAR clients run on a number of platforms
- HPSS User Interface Client support for operating systems not listed in the table above may be provided by special services. See HPSS Offerings for offering details, and contact us.
- The PIO API requires the Client API.
Come meet with us!
2023 HUF The 2023 HPSS User Forum (HUF) will be an in-person event scheduled October 30th through November 3rd, 2023, in Herndon, VA. This will be a great opportunity to hear from HPSS users, collaboration developers, testers, support folks and leadership (from IBM and DOE Labs). Would you like to Learn More? Please contact us if you are not a customer but would like to attend. |
HPSS @ SC23 The 2023 international conference for high performance computing, networking, storage and analysis will be in Denver, CO from November 12th through 17th, 2023 - Learn More. As we have each year (pre-pandemic), we are scheduling and meeting with customers via IBM Single Client Briefings. Please contact your local IBM client executive or contact us to schedule a HPSS Single Client Briefing to meet with the IBM business and technical leaders of HPSS. |
HPSS @ STS 2024 The 5th Annual Storage Technology Showcase is in the planning phase, but HPSS expects to support the event. Check out their web site - Learn More. |
HPSS @ MSST 2024 The 38th International Conference on Massive Storage Systems and Technology will be in Santa Clara, California in May of 2024 - Learn More. Please contact us if you would like to meet with the IBM business and technical leaders of HPSS at Santa Clara University. |
HPSS @ ISC 2024 ISC 2024 is the event for high performance computing, machine learning, and data analytics, and will be in Hamburg, Germany at the Congress Center Hamburg, from May 12th through May 16th, 2024 - Learn More. As we have done each year (pre-pandemic), we are scheduling and meeting with folks attending the conference. Please contact us meet with the IBM business and technical leaders of HPSS. |
What's New?
HPSS 10.2 Release - HPSS 10.2 was released on February 16th, 2023 and introduces six new features and numerous minor updates. |
HUF 2022 - The HPSS User Forum was hosted by IBM Houston in October 2021, at their IBM Houston Kurland building. |
Celebrating 30 Years - Fall 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of the High Performance Storage System (HPSS) Collaboration. |
HPSS 10.1 Release - HPSS 10.1 was released on September 30th, 2022 and introduces fourteen new features and numerous minor updates. |
Lots of Data - In March 2022, IBM/HPSS delivered a storage solution to a customer in Canada, and demonstrated a sustained tape ingest rate of 33 GB/sec (2.86 PB/day peak tape ingest x 2 for dual copy), while simultaneously demonstrating a sustained tape recall rate of 24 GB/sec (2.0 PB/day peak tape recall). HPSS pushed six 18-frame IBM TS4500 tape libraries (scheduled to house over 1.6 Exabytes of tape media) to over 3,000 mounts/hour. |
DOE Announces HPSS Milestone - Todd Heer, Deputy Program Lead, Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Facilities, Operations, and User Support (FOUS), announced that DOE High Performance Storage Systems (HPSS) eclipse one exabyte in stored data. |
Atos Press Release - Atos boosts Météo-France’s data storage capacity to over 1 exabyte in 2025 to improve numerical modeling and climate predictions. Want to read more? |
Capacity Leader - ECMWF (European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) has a single HPSS namespace with over 824 PB spanning over 556 million files. |
File-Count Leader - LLNL (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) has a single HPSS namespace with over 78 PB spanning 1.746 billion files. |
Older News - Want to read more? |