What is GPFS? Part 1

We are often asked the question “what is GPFS?” and why should I use it as my HPC file system. As a primer, we will be offering a 3 part series about what GPFS is.

GPFS = Full Set of File Management Tools

GPFS is more than clustered file system software; it is a full featured set of file management tools. This includes advanced storage virtualization, integrated high availability, automated tiered storage management and the performance to effectively manage very large quantities of file data.

GPFS Allows Different OS to Connect with Shared Access

GPFS allows a group of computers concurrent access to a common set of file data over a common SAN infrastructure, a network or a mix of connection types. The computers can run any mix of AIX, Linux or Windows Server operating systems. GPFS provides storage management, information life cycle management tools, centralized administration and allows for shared access to file systems from remote GPFS clusters providing a global namespace.

GPFS administration tools simplify cluster-wide tasks. A single GPFS command can perform a file system function across the entire cluster and most can be issued from any node in the cluster.

Source:  An Introduction to GPFS