# Cloudian HPC Data Lake Platform from Lenovo and Weka

## WekaFS and Cloudian HyperStore for AI, ML, and Advanced Analytics

#### The Challenge

Organizations are consuming and creating more data than ever before and many are  
applying AI/ML on ever larger data sets, to make better decisions in near/real-time  
and unlock new revenue streams. Traditional storage systems simply can’t handle  
the processing needs or the scalability required for iterative analytic workloads and  
introduce bottlenecks to productivity and data-driven decision making. The ability  
to unify data silos to accommodate diverse workloads along with high performance  
compute speed is crucial for today’s modern organizations.

#### The Solution

The Lenovo ThinkSystem series running Cloudian HyperStore and WekaFS offers a stateof-the-art optimized storage solution for high-performance and scale-out workloads.

Deployed on Lenovo ThinkSystem, Weka file system (WekaFS) and Cloudian  
HyperStore™ provide an integrated storage solution allowing you to overcome the  
challenges associated with accelerating and scaling your data pipeline, while lowering  
overall storage costs associated with data analytics. WekaFS is a distributed, scaleout and POSIX-compliant file system, built on a modern architecture using NVMe Flash  
and supports Ethernet or Infiniband transport, with low latency, multi-protocol (POSIX,  
NFS, SMB, S3, GPUDirect Storage, CSI) high performance access. WekaFS distributes  
metadata throughout the cluster via patented mechanisms that prevent hot spots to  
maximize performance levels. Performance is predictable, consistent and scales linearly  
as more nodes are added to the storage cluster.

Weka is industry-leading storage systems for performance workloads on the Lenovo  
SR630 running the Weka file system (WekaFS). An entry-level cluster size for Weka  
requires eight server nodes, which are then presented as a single storage cluster.

![image](https://cloudian.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1200w_LI_HPC-Data-Lake-Platform-from-Lenovo-Diagram-1024x536.jpg)Cloudian HyperStore compliments WekaFS and is integrated through Weka’s cloud  
tiering function, adding a cost-effective, exabyte-scale, software-defined object storage  
to the solution. Cloudian offers modular growth, letting you expand from terabytes to an  
exabyte without disruption. Embedded data redundancy features provide up to 14 nines  
of data durability, removing the need for a separate data backup process.

Cloudian HyperStore supports capacity storage workloads using multiple Lenovo  
server and storage configurations. These include SR650, SR530 with D3280 HDD  
populated servers for infinite scale-out capacity storage.

Together WekaFS and Cloudian Hyperstore on Lenovo ThinkSystem unify and simplify  
the data pipeline for performance-intensive workloads and accelerated DataOps, all at  
1/3rd lower TCO than traditional storage systems

### Solution Advantages

#### High Performance

WekaFS is an ultra-low-latency, high-throughput solution that is purpose built for  
environments running concurrent workloads. It is architected to eliminate compute  
cluster bottlenecks and reduce valuable processing times, making it ideal for iterative  
workloads like AI/machine learning. As the world’s fastest shared parallel file system,  
WekaFS is 3x faster than local file systems and 10x faster than traditional NAS.  
Running on the industry’s best, Lenovo SR 630, WekaFS provides storage for the  
highest performance workloads.

#### Scalable

Cloudian HyperStore brings the flexibility and elasticity of the cloud within your data  
center. With multiple Lenovo ThinkSystem deployment possibilities, customers can  
start small – as small as a 3-node configuration — and scale out to thousands of nodes  
as needed. These nodes can be physical or virtual, running on industry-best Lenovo  
ThinkSystem SR650 amongst other options. In addition, unlike some systems that  
require all nodes to be identical, HyperStore lets you add heterogeneous nodes of  
any size, providing scalability across multiple data centers or facilities anywhere in the  
world.

#### Secure

The combined solution on Lenovo ThinkSystem provides extensive security features to  
deploy and operate a protected storage solution that is FIPS, CFTC 4511, SEC 17 a-4,  
Common Criteria compliant and certified at the capacity tier. Security features include:

- Data encryption and transparent key management
- AES-256 server-side encryption for data stored at rest
- SSL encryption for data in transit (HTTPS)
- Role-based access controls with specified levels of access
- Fine-grained storage policies and Audit trail logging
- WORM (Write Once Read Multiple) for storage of immutable data
- Extremely short RTO providing near-instant recovery of files due to Ransomware
- Flexible RPO scheduling to meet any file protection requirement

#### Resilient

The solution provides high data durability with the option to protect and distribute  
data using replication or erasure coding. Administrators can configure the number of  
replicas or type of erasure code scheme required to meet SLA and cost objectives.  
Storage policies also provide fine grain control of data placement across data centers,  
taking into consideration factors such as cost efficiency, security levels, and proximity.

#### Multi-tenant

The solution allows multiple users on shared infrastructure without compromising  
security. Granular access control and audit logging capabilities control and logically  
separate data access. Users can securely access data from the same nodes without  
impacting operations. Administrators can also control quality of service (QOS) by  
limiting usage rates and setting quotas on a per-group, per-user basis.

#### Economical

Running on cutting edge Lenovo ThinkSystem with local NVMe SSD’s, the solution  
drives down the cost of storage for analytics workloads by one-third as compared to  
traditional storage.

![Lenovo logo](https://cloudian.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Lenovo.png)#### **Solution Benefits**

- POSIX / SMB / NFS / S3 / GPU Direct Storage / CSI protocols access
- Enterprise-grade on-prem object storage platform that scales limitlessly
- Industry leading storage infrastructure with Lenovo ThinkSystem Native S3-APIs with industry-leading compatibility
- Scale-out modular design with centralized data management and Single global namespace
- Start small and expand without downtime
- Military-grade security and regulatory compliance certifications
- Hybrid and multi-cloud ready
- Single platform for all applications with 1/3 savings

#### **Use Cases**

- High performance file and object storage
- Machine Learning, AI, Advanced Analytics and Big Data
- Life Sciences Research, Genomics
- Financial Services, High Frequency Trading, Compliance

[Get Solution Brief](https://data.cloudian.com/SB-0838-Lenovo-HPC-Data-Lake-Solution)
