One Stop Systems has delivered four of its new MDA-T5 data recorders and 3U servers to NASA for its Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) project. The MIL-STD disk array is an ultra-rugged, high-performance RAID storage system with innovative dual removable drive packs and dual SBB (Storage Bridge Bay) 2.0-compliant, high-speed controllers each with two Fibre Channel 8Gb/s inputs. The MDA-T5 operates flawlessly over the Fibre Channel connection to the 3U server with achieved data transfers speeds in excess of 700MB/s, far exceeding the throughput NASA required for the SOFIA project. The dual 6-disk removable drive packs in the MDA-T5 allow the data gathered to be removed quickly from the aircraft and transferred to ground systems while maintaining the RAID configuration for each drive pack.
The MDA-T5 contains two, easily-removable drive packs, each holding six 3-1/2" hard disk drives each capable of transporting up to 12TB of data for a total of up to 24TB. Each drive pack is hermetically sealed and nitrogen-filled to ensure operation to altitudes of 12,496 m. The thermal monitoring and control protects against extreme temperatures.
SOFIA is a joint program by NASA and the German Aerospace Center to develop the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy - or SOFIA - as a world-class airborne observatory that will complement the Hubble, Spitzer, Herschel and James Webb space telescopes and major Earth-based telescopes. SOFIA features a German-built 2.5 meter diameter far-infrared telescope weighing 20 tons mounted in the rear fuselage of a highly modified Boeing 747SP aircraft. It is one of the premier space science programs of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The OSS disk arrays are used to download the data gathered from the telescope and downloaded to ground stations where it can be analyzed.
