Using nearline storage: Difference between revisions

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==Nearline is a filesystem virtualized onto tape== <!--T:1-->
==Nearline is a filesystem virtualized onto tape== <!--T:1-->
Nearline storage is  a disk-tape hybrid filesystem with a layout like [[Project layout|Project]], except that it can virtualize files by moving them to tape-based storage on criteria like age and size, and then back again upon read or recall operations. This is a way to manage less-used files. On tape, the files do not consume your disk quota, but they can still be accessed, albeit slower than with the home, scratch and project filesystems.
Nearline storage is  a disk-tape hybrid filesystem with a layout like [[Project layout|Project]], except that it can virtualize files by moving them to tape-based storage on criteria such as age and size, and then back again upon read or recall operations. This is a way to manage less-used files. On tape, the files do not consume your disk quota, but they can still be accessed, albeit slower than with the home, scratch and project filesystems.


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Nearline is intended for use with relatively large files and should not be used for a large number of small files.  In fact, files smaller than a certain threshold size may not be moved to tape at all.  
Nearline is intended for use with relatively large files and should not be used for a large number of small files.  In fact, files smaller than a certain threshold size may not be moved to tape at all.  
*Files smaller than ~200MB should be combined into archive files (''tarballs'') using [[Archiving and compressing files|tar]] or a similar tool.
*Files smaller than ~200MB should be combined into archive files (''tarballs'') using [[Archiving and compressing files|<tt>tar</tt>]] or a similar tool.
*Files larger than 300GB should be split in chunks of 100GB using the [[Archiving_and_compressing_files#Other_Useful_Utilities|split]] command or a similar tool.
*Files larger than 300GB should be split in chunks of 100GB using the [[Archiving_and_compressing_files#Other_Useful_Utilities|split]] command or a similar tool.


== Using Nearline == <!--T:22-->
== Using nearline == <!--T:22-->
The basic model for using nearline is that you put files there, and later you may access them, like a normal filesystem, except that reading the files may involve a significant pause. You may also remove files from nearline.  It's important to realize that Nearline files can be in sevearl different states:
The basic model for using nearline is that you put files there, and later you may access them, like a normal filesystem, except that reading the files may involve a significant pause. You may also remove files from nearline.  It's important to realize that nearline files can be in several different states:
* immediately upon creation, the file is on disk, not tape.  this is mainly to avoid having to guess about when you're done putting the file into place.
* immediately upon creation, the file is on disk, not tape.  This is mainly to avoid having to guess about when you're done putting the file into place.
* after a period (on the order of a day), the system will copy the file to tape. at this stage, the file will be on both disk and tape - it'll behave just like a disk file, unless you modify it.
* after a period (on the order of a day), the system will copy the file to tape. At this stage, the file will be on both disk and tape; it will behave just like a disk file, unless you modify it.
* after a further period, the disk copy will be dropped, and the file will only be on tape (our policy is two tape copies: one local and one remote).  at this point, the file will be slow to read, since content must be recalled from tape.
* after a further period, the disk copy will be dropped, and the file will only be on tape (our policy is two tape copies: one local and one remote).  At this point, the file will be slow to read, since content must be recalled from tape.
* when such a file is recalled, it returns to the second state.
* when such a file is recalled, it returns to the second state.


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Thus, you may wish to inquire about the status of a Nearline file:
Thus, you may wish to inquire about the status of a nearline file:
  lfs hsm_state ~/nearline/def-mine/user/somefile
  lfs hsm_state ~/nearline/def-mine/user/somefile
will report on the HSM status of the file.  If you wish to ensure that the file is brought in from tape, you can also:
will report on the HSM status of the file.  If you wish to ensure that the file is brought in from tape, you can also use
  lfs hsm_restore
  lfs hsm_restore


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