TheWellcome Trusthas implemented a power
and space saving open standards based data storage system to
preserve 250,000 digital images from more than 70 years of medical
research and 2000 years of human culture.
The
Pillar Axiom storage system was chosen from 20 competitors
because of its ability to ensure the Wellcome Trust image library
will be accessible by future viewing technology through its use of
open standards.
"The image library contains some very important digital assets,
so we had to be sure that someone can access them in a hundred
years' time," said Richard Gough, Wellcome Trust IT operations
manager.
The Pillar Axiom system has enabled the Wellcome Trust to
consolidate its data into a single system, reducing the physical
area taken up by storage by 80%, which is expected to result in a
40% saving in power consumption.
Gough said the Pillar Axiom system was also selected because it
met the requirements of having a simple user interface and was able
to grow on demand without interruption beyond the expected need of
up to 350 terabytes in the next five years.
"Another big requirement was that there was no off switch to
ensure maximum availability, which the Pillar system achieves
through near real-time data mirroring to a second site," he
said.
Finally, Gough said the Pillar Axiom's inclusion of write once,
read many storage provided the necessary data encryption to respond
to any future legislation around data protection.