CC*DNI Engineer: Data Safety, Transfer and Performance

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

Modern research is increasingly data-based, whether the endeavor is in the physical, biological, or social sciences. Increasingly that research calls for large amounts of data to be transferred, modified, synced, and reliably stored for both the short and long term. The remarkable increase in both the generation and use of digital data and data tools has left many researchers behind. The primary mission of the CyberInfrastructure Engineer (CIE) is to significantly engage in the interaction between researcher and technology via personal support and consultation, and to teach introductory classes on selected topics, with a net goal of bringing useful technologies to more researchers. The CIE is working to improve the data-driven nature of scientific research in three parallel avenues: 1) data safety through the deployment of automated systems to move large scale research data to off-site systems; 2) data transfer through the use of state-of-the-art tools and systems currently unknown to many researchers; and, 3) data performance by expanded use of the highest-performance storage, retrieval, and processing of very large datasets. UCI is evaluating a number of competing designs and services for a large-scale campus storage pool, creating a hybrid backup system that caches data locally before sending it on via our NSF-funded Science DMZ (UCI-LightPath) to longer-term, less-expensive, Cloud backup systems, and automating and using existing high speed data transfer protocols to be much easier for researchers to take advantage of.