NCGR deploys Isilon scale-out NAS to power genome sequencing research services

Apr 21 2010

Isilon® Systems (Nasdaq: ISLN) today announced that the National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) has deployed Isilon scale-out NAS to power its full range of next-generation genome sequencing research services. By combining Isilon's X-Series, Backup Accelerator and CommVault's Simpana backup software, NCGR has unified eight Illumina Genome Analyzers onto a highly reliable, central storage resource, accelerating time-to-results and ensuring its research information is secure and accessible 24x7x365. With Isilon IQ, featuring its OneFS® operating system, NCGR has been able to scale a single, high performance, shared pool of storage in-step with its rapidly growing DNA sequencing capacity without the need for full-time storage administration.

"Rapidly increasing demand for our genome research services and the imminent arrival of third generation genome sequencing technologies are quadrupling the size of our sequencing capacity, creating a huge influx of valuable genomic data that our previous storage system simply couldn't handle," said John Utsey, deputy director of IT, NCGR. "We needed a very scalable, easy to use system that would keep our data reliably -- and Isilon delivered. With Isilon IQ, we've increased productivity and reduced operating costs."

NCGR's research focuses on discovering how genome variation between individuals relates to disease or to economically important crop traits, while NCGR's software engineers develop scientific software solutions to support and enable this research. Prior to deploying Isilon IQ, the increase of genomic data generated by NCGR's rapidly growing sequencing capacity overwhelmed the organization's previous storage system, limiting data access and sequencing performance, while requiring time- and resource-intensive storage management.

By deploying Isilon IQ, NCGR has unified all of its Illumina DNA sequence capture devices on a single file system, significantly increasing workflow performance and accelerating time-to-results. Leveraging Isilon's Backup Accelerator as part of its Isilon IQ 36000X cluster, NCGR has been able to seamlessly integrate its Isilon system with CommVault Simpana software to securely backup mission-critical research data to tape for disaster recovery. With Isilon scale-out NAS, NCGR can run DNA sequencing analyses and backup operations simultaneously without any degradation of sequencing or backup performance, improving productivity and ensuring NCGR's genomic sequencing data, which can cost more than $60,000 per day, is always accessible.

"Whether it's studying the cause of multiple sclerosis or improving soybeans, NCGR's research is playing an important role in advancing understanding of disease and crop traits," said Sam Grocott, vice president of marketing, Isilon Systems. "The institute's use of Isilon scale-out NAS to power a dramatic increase in sequencing capacity, while simultaneously reducing operating costs, is indicative of the accelerated time-to-results and significant cost-savings Isilon is delivering for today's leading-edge genomic research."