Case Study: Diamond Light Source achieves scalable, cloud-accessible research data storage with NetApp

How Ancient Fossils Are Helping Scientists Create a Better Future

Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron, generates massive experimental data—about 14 PB in its archive and roughly 500 TB added each month—from more than 9,000 annual user visits. The challenge was managing and distributing these enormous datasets and supporting large-scale compute resources (≈3,500 CPU cores and 250,000 GPU cores) so researchers no longer had to physically transport hard drives to access their results.

NetApp deployed a hybrid storage and backup solution (FAS, SnapVault, E‑Series, EF‑Series) that makes data easily accessible in the cloud, supports fast automated processing, and scales with future needs. The result: researchers can access data remotely, operations are more reliable and future‑proofed with NetApp support, and Diamond Light has accelerated discoveries across fields—from using fossil insights for safer nuclear waste storage to advances in bone healing, battery research, and materials for higher‑density storage.

Diamond Light Source

David Bond

Computer Systems Administrator