The Scalable Storage Competition 2024 Committee consists of key players from various fields of high performance computing, high-tech, and research, with a proven record and expertise in researching, developing and providing high performance storage systems and solutions for computing systems. Together, these members form a well-rounded committee with a wealth of knowledge and experience, ensuring the success and relevance of the Scalable Storage Competition 2024.

The committee comprises the following members:

DDN

https://ddn.com/

DDN is a leading global provider of high-performance data storage solutions specializing in artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, and high-performance computing (HPC) environments. With a rich history spanning over 25 years, DDN empowers organizations across various industries, including enterprise, government, and academia, to harness the full potential of their data. DDN is recognized as a world leader in high-performance data infrastructure, delivering innovative solutions that meet the demanding requirements of data-intensive workloads. DDN offers a comprehensive portfolio of storage appliances, DDN is especially recognized on following markets:

GWDG

https://gwdg.de/

The GWDG is a publicly funded, non-profit organization that provides a wide range of services to the scientific community on both a local and national level. In addition to organizational services like storage, collaboration, and email, the GWDG operates several clusters (including three from the current TOP500 list) and associated storage systems, which are utilized by scientists for computations and research activities. These include locally managed clusters tailored for specific clients, such as the SCC (Scientific Computer Cluster) for the Georg-August-University Göttingen (GAUG) and the Max Planck Society (MPG), CARO for the DLR, and the Emmy+ and Grete GPU clusters as part of the NHR (National High-Performance Computing). Furthermore, GWDG is a key player in one of the four AI centers funded by the BMBF and hosts the corresponding hardware, conducting AI research on heterogeneous accelerator hardware.

Huawei

https://www.huawei.com/en

Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With 207,000 employees and operation in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world, Huawei is committed to bringing digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. Huawei continues to invest in basic research and open innovation, and accommodates and addresses customer needs with an open mind, while steering these needs with science and technology. Huawei aims to openly collaborate with industry organizations and ecosystem partners across various domains, including the public and private sectors, academia, research institutes, and users.

RWTH Aachen

https://www.rwth-aachen.de/

RWTH Aachen University, located in Aachen, Germany, is one of Europe’s leading institutions of higher education in science and engineering. Renowned for its rigorous academic programs and cutting-edge research, the university attracts students and scholars from around the globe.

HPC research, conducted at the Chair of High Performance Computing (HPC) / Computer Science 12 in the Department of Computer Science, focuses on parallel programming and performance tools. The focus is on performance and correctness analysis of parallel programs, energy efficiency and programmability. A particular focus is on the further development of the industry standard OpenMP in order to increase the performance of modern multi- and many-core systems.

High Performance Computing (HPC) at RWTH Aachen University is crucial for the development of a powerful HPC ecosystem to support simulation science. Projects such as JARA and the National High Performance Computing Center for Computational Engineering Science (NHR4CES) provide a world-class infrastructure that enables scalable and efficient execution of HPC applications.

Universität Göttingen

https://uni-goettingen.de/

The University of Göttingen, founded in 1737, is a prestigious and internationally renowned research university located in the heart of Lower Saxony, Germany. With a rich history and a commitment to excellence in education and research, it has established itself as a leading institution in the fields of science, humanities, and social sciences.

The Institute for Computer Science (Institut für Informatik, IFI) at the University of Göttingen in Germany is a leading academic research and teaching institution. It is part of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science and offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs in computer science. The institute is involved in various research areas, such as algorithms and complexity, artificial intelligence, databases and information systems, graphics and visualization, human-computer interaction, machine learning, and software engineering. The faculty comprises highly qualified researchers and professors who collaborate with other national and international institutions to contribute to the advancement of computer science.

The institute has a strong interest in parallel systems and High-Performance Computing (HPC). Given this focus, the Scalable Storage Competition (SSC) becomes particularly relevant to the institute, as it aligns with its research areas in HPC, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The SSC presents an opportunity for the institute to engage with cutting-edge storage technologies and explore their applications in computationally intensive fields. Recognizing the potential benefits and synergies, the Institute for Computer Science actively endorses and supports the SSC, fostering collaboration and innovation in scalable storage solutions for HPC and AI.

Vast

https://vastdata.com

VAST Data is the data platform company built for the AI era. As the new standard for enterprise AI infrastructure, organizations trust the VAST Data Platform to serve their most data-intensive computing needs. VAST Data empowers enterprises to unlock the full potential of their data by providing AI infrastructure that is simple, scalable, and architected from the ground up to power deep learning and GPU-accelerated data centers and clouds. Launched in 2019, VAST Data is the fastest growing data infrastructure company in history.