Case Study: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute achieves scalable, high-performance genomics storage with DDN

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute - Customer Case Study

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, a UK-based genomic research center, needed robust, high-performance storage to keep up with rapidly growing DNA sequencing data and the demands of more than 2,000 scientists. As sequencing technology advanced, the institute faced unpredictable data growth, tight data-center space, and the need to support Lustre and iRODS while handling millions of weekly website visits. DDN provided the scalable infrastructure to meet these challenges.

DDN implemented SFA high-performance storage engines with EXAScaler Lustre file system appliances and iRODS support, giving the institute the throughput and scalability needed for large-scale genome analysis. With DDN, Sanger Institute doubled performance from 3 GB/s to 6 GB/s, then scaled to 10 GB/s and 20 GB/s, and reached 22.5 petabytes of usable storage capacity. This enabled faster analysis, smoother expansion without forklift upgrades, and better open data sharing for researchers worldwide.

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Tim Cutts

Acting Head of Scientific Computing