Strong and Free: Building a Resilient Data Store North of the Border

• Main Authors: Fink, John, Ruest, Nick
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@Macalester College 2013
• Subjects: Cloud Computing; Archives/Repositories; permafrost
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/libtech_conf/2013/sessions/17

Cloud technologies are an attractive way to build infrastructure with a minimum of fuss. However, there are instances in which the cloud can fail to live up to expectations, or where legal or ethical considerations make it difficult to trust outside parties. To solve some of these problems, it is possible to build a cloud infrastructure within your institution. There are some exciting new hardware and software developments that put local cloud implementations within easy (or easier) reach for libraries. This session will discuss problems and opportunities with the cloud, along with specific strategies and technologies for local cloud installations. We will focus on the Permafrost project, a cooperative effort by some Ontario academic institutions to build a cheap, redundant, geographically disparate, multi-terabyte data store.