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FileTek and the Met Office Sign a New Contract for FileTek Management of the World's Largest Relational Database; StorHouse Promotes Active Archive Database Growth to 1.8 Petabytes in a Single SystemROCKVILLE, Md. --(Business Wire)-- May 17, 2005 -- FileTek, Inc., a data access and management software provider, today announced that the United Kingdom Met Office (the Met Office), a prestigious scientific organization that is world-renowned for its cutting-edge work in climate research and numerical weather prediction, signed a three-year contract for continued use of FileTek's proven StorHouse(R) system to support the Met Office's Managed Archive Storage System (MASS) application. MASS is a high-performance, extremely active archive that provides a secure and relationally accessible repository for weather modeling data used for such things as investigating global warming and climate change. The MASS archive currently contains over 400 terabytes and is growing at the rate of more than one terabyte per day with a potential ingest rate of two terabytes per day. The new contract, which contains the option for an additional three-year extension, plans for an archive size of 1.8 petabytes with the capability for growth significantly beyond that milestone. Installed at the Met Office since 2000, FileTek's flagship StorHouse product is a comprehensive data storage and access management system specifically designed to administer massive amounts of fixed content and its associated backups. StorHouse technology combines industry-leading scalable storage devices and Open System processors with specialized storage management (StorHouse/SM), relational database management (StorHouse/RM), and file system interface (StorHouse/RFS) software components. The MASS application uses StorHouse/SM and StorHouse/RM to load, retrieve, and manage the relational archive and StorHouse/RFS to stage the loads of ad hoc files. The system architecture incorporates a virtual storage hierarchy of RAID, massive arrays of idle disks (MAID) from COPAN Systems, and various STK automated tape technologies. Under the auspices of the new contract, the Met Office will replace its existing E6500 StorHouse server with a more powerful Sun Fire E6900 model, and FileTek will begin revamping its MASS front-end client application known as MOUSE to operate on Linux clusters rather than existing Met Office platforms. In addition, over the next three years and beyond, FileTek will continue to meet the stringent high-volume, high-capacity, and high-performance requirements of the Met Office's 24x7x365 service level agreement. Mike Boyd, Central Systems Manager at the Met Office, commented, "The Met Office has been extremely pleased with FileTek products, services, and support over the past five years, and we look forward to our extended relationship with the company during the new contract period. StorHouse has enabled the Met Office to create and perpetuate one of the world's largest and most active scientific databases, and we are confident that the system will foster and facilitate future database growth. A single StorHouse can scale to multiple petabytes, thereby providing the Met Office with timely SQL access to petabytes of MASS metadata and associated binary objects in the same system. With FileTek and StorHouse in our Exeter data center, we rest assured knowing that the storage and management of our critical research data is in safe and exceedingly capable hands." Ann Dyball, FileTek's Regional Area Manager for the UK, added, "It has been a pleasure working in partnership with the Met Office on the MASS application strategy. FileTek is proud to be closely associated with an organization outstanding not only for its leading-edge IT capability and expertise but also for its critical climate change research. During the new contract period, FileTek looks forward to helping the Met Office maintain and grow its database and achieve its demanding business goals. StorHouse is a natural fit for the MASS application because it can manage data loaded and retrieved from heterogeneous environments, including the Met Office's NEC super computers. Furthermore, because StorHouse is highly scalable and uniquely enables direct row-level access to low-cost storage, FileTek can ensure anticipated archive growth, cost-effective operation, timely retrievals, and longevity of data. The next three years will bring about groundbreaking technology strides as FileTek and the Met Office continue to build the world's largest relational database." About FileTek FileTek, Inc. is a provider of data storage and access management solutions, enabling enterprises, worldwide and across multiple industry segments, to rapidly access ever-growing volumes of historical data. FileTek is headquartered at 9400 Key West Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850. Telephone: 301-251-0600. Fax: 301-251-1990. FileTek's international headquarters, FileTek UK Limited, is located at One Northumberland Ave., London WC2N 5BW. Telephone: +44 (0) 207 872 5583. Fax: +44 (0) 207 753 2829. The company also has offices across North America. Internet: www.filetek.com. About the Met Office The Met Office is a world leader in the provision of advice on the weather and the natural environment. For over 150 years, it has been the UK's national weather service, providing services to government departments, companies in commerce, industry, and the media. The Met Office also investigates the impacts of the weather on the environment. The Met Office is also expanding its international operations and is extending cooperation and forging partnerships within the international "weather" communities. Internet: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk (C)2005 FileTek. All rights reserved. FileTek and StorHouse are U.S. registered trademarks of FileTek, Inc. Other trademarks included herein are the properties of their respective owners. The following U.S. patents protect StorHouse: 4,864,572; 5,247,660; 5,727,197; 6,049,804. |
