With the expected need to store and protect rapidly growing data, traditional infrastructure solutions cannot accommodate and sustain these needs. The new user requirements suggesting exponential growth led KAUST to explore new software defined storage solutions to fulfill:

• Addition of high-resolution imaging systems generating massive datasets
• Next-Gen sequencers with high throughput
• Increased awareness to protect data
• Soon to be launched large data projects

KAUST is introducing a Global Cloud File System which is

• Secure and always available for global access across multiple distributed sites
• Realtime collaboration among geographically distributed users
• Immutable & Resistant to ransomware
• Versioning & built-in snapshot features for backup & restoration

KAUST will be gearing up to migrate existing data to the new platform gradually. The new solution will be instantly available using any protocol, highly scalable and threat resistant. The new innovative approach will reduce the workload related to data management across data tiers, provide better space utilization and reporting tools, and remove the need for managing traditional on-site tape backup technology. The second copy at an alternate site will be done by mirroring to the low-cost cloud archive services.