Storage Systems Overview

Anunna provides several storage areas, each meant for a different purpose. They differ in size, speed, cost, and — importantly — whether they are backed up. This page is a map of the storage landscape; follow the links for the details of each area.

Storage areas at a glance

Area	Use it for	Backed up?	Details
/home	Personal files: programs, scripts, configuration, small results. Reliable but slower.	Yes	Home Directory
/lustre/nobackup	The default area for active compute work. Large and fast.	No	Compute Storage
/lustre/backup	Compute data that also needs a safety copy.	Yes (disaster-recovery copy)	Compute Storage
/lustre/scratch	Short-lived working data.	No (auto-purged)	Compute Storage
/lustre/shared	Data shared between people or groups.	Yes	Shared Storage
/archive	Keeping data you are no longer computing on (login nodes, WUR users). Cheaper than Lustre.	Yes	Archival Storage
/tmp, /dev/shm	Fast, node-local scratch for the lifetime of a job.	No	Compute Storage

There is also a read-only /shared mount that provides a consistent set of binaries and configuration for the whole cluster; it is maintained centrally and is not for your own data.

Choosing where to put your data

• Running jobs? Read and write on Lustre (/lustre/nobackup by default), not on your home directory.
• Keeping something safe? Your home directory and the /lustre/backup tier are backed up; /lustre/nobackup and /lustre/scratch are not. See Backup Policy.
• Done computing, but want to keep the data? Move it to /archive, where long-term data is archived to tape.
• Sharing with a team? See Shared Storage.

Storage is not free; see Tariffs for costs, and Quotas for the limits that apply.

See also

• Home Directory
• Compute Storage
• Shared Storage
• Archival Storage
• Backup Policy
• Quotas
• Tariffs