Western Digital Corporation Joins iRODS Consortium To Help Advance Adoption Of Cloud Storage Architectures

WDC to Provide Targeted Technology Enhancements to Expand Data Movement Options for Life Science and Other Data Intensive Workflows

News provided by

Western Digital Corporation

Apr 04, 2016, 08:00 ET

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Helping the world harness the power of data, Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) today announced that it is now an active contributor to iRODS, a membership-based consortium that develops and supports the integrated Rule-Oriented Data System (iRODS), an open source software platform for storing, searching, and sharing large files and datasets. Thousands of organizations around the world use iRODS for flexible, policy-based management of files and metadata that span across diverse storage devices and locations. Western Digital Corporation will initially contribute advanced HGST S3 connector technology to the iRODS architecture to enhance cloud connectivity.

HGST (formerly Hitachi GST and now a Western Digital company) provides a wide range of products that includes hard disk drives, enterprise-class solid state drives, and innovative external storage solutions and services that store, preserve and manage the world's most valued data.

"We are impressed with HGST's enthusiastic support for the work iRODS is doing, and look forward to its participation in helping to advance the iRODS architecture in the market," said Dan Bedard, director of the iRODS Consortium. "As an iRODS member and contributor, HGST will play an important role in directing iRODS technology and in the governance of the consortium."

Western Digital Corporation is an industry-leading developer and manufacturer of storage solutions that enable people to create, leverage, experience and preserve data. Last April, the company released the HGST Active Archive System, a fully integrated, Amazon S3^TM-compliant, scale-out object storage solution delivering 4.7 petabytes (PB) of raw data storage in a single rack. Leveraging HelioSeal® helium-filled disk drive technology and end-to-end optimization of system software and hardware, the system provides the industry's best capacity, density and TCO with support for geo-dispersed replication, data-at-rest encryption (DARE), as well as distributed erasure coding for cloud-scale data durability and reliability.

"iRODS is a key component in our strategy to provide the highest quality, innovative, active archiving solution available," said Barbara Murphy, vice president of marketing at WDC. "As members of iRODS, we look forward to working closely with development teams to help enhance S3 connectivity to enable smarter data movement within life sciences research and related data-intensive applications."

HGST Platinum Sponsor at BioIT World
Representatives from HGST and iRODS will be on hand in Boston to discuss the benefits of iRODS consortium membership. WDC will showcase the HGST Active Archive System.

What: BioIT World Conference and Expo
When: April 5 – 7, 2016
Where: Boston, MA
Booth(s): HGST #560, iRODS #148
HGST Presentation: "Managing the Mayhem: Overcoming the Challenges of Long-term Data Retention," Wednesday, April 6 at 5:00 p.m.

Follow HGST on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and #HGSTStorage, #LongLiveData

About the iRODS Consortium
The iRODS Consortium is a membership organization that leads development and support of the Integrated Rule-Oriented Data System (iRODS), free open source software for data discovery, workflow automation, secure collaboration, and data virtualization. The iRODS Consortium provides a production-ready iRODS distribution and iRODS professional integration services, training, and support. The world's top researchers in life sciences, geosciences, and information management use iRODS to control their data. Learn more at irods.org.

The iRODS Consortium is administered by founding member RENCI, a research institute for applications of cyberinfrastructure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For more information about RENCI, please visit www.renci.org.

About Western Digital Corporation
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is an industry-leading developer and manufacturer of storage solutions that enable people to create, leverage, experience and preserve data. The company addresses ever-changing market needs by providing a full portfolio of compelling, high-quality storage solutions with effective technology deployment, high efficiency, flexibility and speed. Our products are marketed under the HGST and WD brands to OEMs, distributors, resellers, cloud infrastructure providers and consumers. For more information, please visit www.hgst.com and www.wd.com.

About HGST
HGST (@HGSTStorage) branded storage solutions power the markets and companies that shape our lives—enabling possibilities for the cloud, enterprise and sophisticated infrastructures everywhere. For more information, please visit www.hgst.com.

One GB is equal to one billion bytes and one TB equals 1,000 GB (one trillion bytes). One PB is equal to 1,000 TB (one quadrillion bytes). Actual capacity will vary depending on operating environment and formatting. Usable capacity will vary from the raw capacity due to object storage methodologies and other factors.

HelioSeal, Simplicity at Scale, and Long Live Data are trademarks, and Ultrastar is a registered trademark of Western Digital Corporation and its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Amazon S3 is a trademark of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

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