Supercomputing - Robots Move Data Inside NCAR's AMSTAR Digital Storage Library

Uploaded on Jul 14, 2009

Robots inside NCAR's AMSTAR digital storage library respond to commands to fetch and mount tape cartridges for reading and/or writing scientific data. About halfway into the video, a robot scans the barcode labels on tapes within the library as part of the initial tape inventory process. The demand for data storage continuously grows as researchers use increasingly complex computer models to study Earth's climate by simulating the atmosphere, oceans, sea ice, and land cover. The system, designed by Sun Microsystems, gives NCAR five times its current storage capacity, enabling scientists to conduct increasingly sophisticated computer studies.