Caltech Spitzer Science Center Reduces Storage Management and Costs for Two Petabytes of NASA Data

May 26, 2010 - PRLog -- Nexsan Storage Systems Selected for Storage of Space Image Data

Nexsan, a leading storage system provider, today announced that the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Spitzer Science Center (SSI) is meeting its data storage challenges by using Nexsan SATABoy® and SATABeast® storage systems. SSI has decreased storage management and maintenance costs of two petabytes of data by employing Nexsan’s storage systems. The resulting savings have enabled better resource utilization for other strategic projects surrounding this important NASA mission.

The Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, or SIRTF) was launched into space by a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on August 25, 2003. Throughout its mission of discovery, Spitzer has obtained images and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects in space. These images have enabled visibility into regions of star formation, the centers of galaxies, and newly forming planetary systems.

The storage of these unique and research-critical images is managed by Caltech, and SSI consulted with ESS Direct to select a combination of Nexsan SATABeast and SATABoy RAID storage systems for their reliability, cost efficiency and simplified operation. During each new Spitzer research activity, SSI stores approximately 100 TB of images in its Nexsan storage environment, which today is composed of more than 2,000 drives, 130 controllers and 65 chassis.

“In choosing a storage vendor, we wanted to reduce storage costs, but we also needed very reliable technology to reduce IT resource drain,” said Eugean Hacopians, senior systems engineer, Caltech SSI. “It’s understood that one of the best ways to shrink storage management costs is to reduce system and component failures so that IT professionals are not relegated to servicing equipment.”

“We’ve had petabytes of data stored on our Nexsan systems for more than seven years and have experienced excellent reliability. The systems have helped reduce storage maintenance costs, which are less than what they might have been with alternative systems,” added Hacopians.

Learn more about the entire Nexsan product line at nexsan.com/products.php.

About the Spitzer Space Telescope
JPL manages the Spitzer mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology campus in Pasadena, Calif. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. For more information, see spitzer.caltech.edu.

About Nexsan
Nexsan Corporation is a leading provider of energy-efficient, long-term storage systems. Nexsan delivers secure storage appliances and modular, capacity-optimized disk-storage systems for a broad range of applications including fixed content storage and archiving, email, medical imaging, compliance and litigation support, disk-based backup, digital video security, and rich media. Nexsan’s solutions are the choice of small and medium-sized companies as well as large global enterprises and major governmental agencies around the world that are seeking cost-correct, high-density storage solutions. Founded in 1999 and based in Thousand Oaks, California, Nexsan sells its products exclusively through a select global network of VARs, OEMs and system integrators. For more information, please see the company’s website at nexsan.com.

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