The MaSSIVE project at NCAR

The Mass Storage System IV Enterprise (MaSSIVE), a fourth-generation mass-storage system being designed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), is described. A bitfile managed by MaSSIVE can be a complete, self-contained UNIX file system, specific to a particular MaSSIVE client. MaSSIVE will stage whole file systems from archival storage onto on-line storage devices and then provide its clients with raw block access to the staged file system. It will consist of cooperating processes distributed across a network of supermicrocomputers. The client interface to a file system will be implemented through a device driver that will permit access to MaSSIVE on-line storage devices. The device interface through a high-bandwidth data fabric to the storage device will use common device controller-specific protocols. As file systems are unmounted by clients or clients disconnect from the data fabric, the file systems may be migrated back to archive storage and removed from on-line storage