Case Study: Durham University accelerates cosmology research with VAST Data

Durham University Pushing the Boundaries of Cosmology with VAST Data

Durham University’s Department of Physics and its Institute for Computational Cosmology (ICC) run the COSMA HPC system for large cosmological simulations, but their aging NFS-based file service could not keep up with growing demands for mixed file types, small-file operations, and scalable storage for researchers. The challenge was to support massive data volumes and improve performance for a workload-heavy scientific environment.

Durham University implemented the VAST Data Platform from VAST Data to replace the legacy system with a scalable, high-performance all-flash data platform. VAST Data delivered much higher throughput, better small-file handling, and a 3.4-to-1 data reduction ratio on user data, helping reduce compute time lost to storage waits and enabling more flexible user workflows and collaboration across UK research sites.

Durham University

Alastair Basden

HPC Technical Manager