Datensicherung.NRW
Source: Datensicherung.NRW
The first service center is equipped with hardware!
The kick-off for the backup software, which will be used in future by 29 state universities in NRW for backup, took place back in September. The DH-NRW project Datensicherung.NRW is in full swing. Now the hardware equipment of the first service center for data backup for NRW universities is starting. This winter, the hardware for Datensicherung.NRW will be delivered to Aachen and installed at a total of six distributed locations.
Hardware from Hitachi from system house H&G
The winner of the tender is the system house H&G with Hitachi. The start of the undertaking in the direction of hardware equipment was October 28, 2021. In this first meeting, the responsible persons from H&G, Hitachi and, of course, the colleagues from Datensicherung.NRW, who are responsible for data backup at the Aachen site, met.
The focus of this meeting was, of course, on coordinating the next steps required to set up the infrastructure. This also included coordinating an on-site inspection of the six locations in Aachen.
A total of 25 PB of object storage distributed across six sites
Since the storage hardware is being set up geo-redundantly, distributed locally, at RWTH Aachen University, it was necessary to inspect the halls and server rooms on Thursday, November 4, 2021. When setting up such a hardware environment, everything has to be just right. The setup will take place at the IT Center locations Wendlingweg 10 and Kopernikusstraße 6, at the E.ON ERC, at the C.A.R.L, at the WZL and at the TME (former VKA). Therefore, not only access routes to halls and server rooms were sighted, but also slots for cables, server cabinets and much more for, among others, 22 central servers and many petabytes of storage.
Next, delivery dates and training courses have to be coordinated and many other organizational arrangements have to be made.
Datensicherung.NRW – Service Centers
Initially, Datensicherung.NRW will start with the three service centers RWTH Aachen University, the University of Bielefeld and the University of Duisburg-Essen. The aim of this NRW consortium is to establish a cross-university basic service for data backup. This will enable the participating universities of all types to further advance digitization by providing a scalable service to ensure data persistence and availability. On the pillars of the uniform software and the cooperation among the NRW universities, the state-wide service of NRW universities for NRW universities is thus created.
We will keep you up to date on how this is progressing. Look forward to updates and developments. If you want to know more, check out the project website.
Nicole Filla is responsible for the content of this article.
