Advanced Technologies Make Science More Accessible:Powerful Computing and Storage Tools Help Scientists Understand and Treat Bacterial Infections
Jan 27, 2014 EST
Today, powerful new DNA sequencing technologies allow scientists and their physician partners to dramatically advance disease understanding and subsequent patient treatment methods. To advance the science, tools must also advance... and many of those tools relate directly to data center storage, computational speed, and ease of use.LSI's 6 gigabit per second Serial Attached SCSI and MegaRAID technology offer a cost-effective, high-performance alternative to a traditional "storage-area-network" environment, using a direct-attach storage solution.For some insight into how LSI technology has helped Pittsburgh's renowned Center for Genomic Sciences at Allegheny General Hospital, let's take a look at the CGS's groundbreaking research on biofilms, wound-healing, and orthopedics. In the case of orthopedics, understanding biofilm behavior yields very practical benefits... and improved tools to understand the immense amount of data now being captured, patient-by-patient.From listening to the medical center and research staff, it's clear: advances in DNA research and improvements in medicine increasingly rely on advances in data I/O and storage performance that LSI has pioneered. The CGS recently installed new Supermicro servers that use LSI 6Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI storage solutions.Colfax International, a specialist in scientific computing systems, did the build out. Four rack-mounted Supermicro servers each use LSI SAS MegaRAID controllers and LSI SAS PCI-Express "by" 36 expanders - fanning out to 24 energy-efficient 500 Gig Seagate small form-factor SAS drives. With their new LSI 6 Gigabit per second SAS solutions, the CGS has reduced its reliance on the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. More can now be done in-house - with speed, flexibility and significant cost savings.At the CGS, LSI adds its own, unique "storage-technology" DNA to the success equationwith a direct-attached storage solution.
