<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
was	O
virtual	O
object	B-Application
storage	I-Application
software	O
developed	O
and	O
maintained	O
by	O
General	O
Atomics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
described	O
as	O
metadata	O
,	O
data	O
placement	O
and	O
data	B-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
software	O
that	O
lets	O
organizations	O
manage	O
unstructured	B-Application
data	I-Application
on	O
multiple	O
storage	O
devices	O
located	O
anywhere	O
in	O
the	O
world	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
orchestrate	O
global	O
data	O
intensive	O
workflows	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
search	O
for	O
and	O
locate	O
data	O
no	O
matter	O
where	O
it	O
is	O
located	O
or	O
when	O
it	O
was	O
created	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
does	O
this	O
by	O
capturing	O
system	O
and	O
user-defined	O
metadata	O
to	O
enable	O
detailed	O
search	O
and	O
enact	O
policies	O
to	O
control	O
data	O
movement	O
and	O
protection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
also	O
maintains	O
data	O
provenance	O
,	O
audit	O
,	O
security	O
and	O
access	O
control	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
can	O
reduce	O
storage	O
costs	O
by	O
identifying	O
data	O
to	O
be	O
moved	O
to	O
lower	O
cost	O
storage	O
and	O
data	O
that	O
no	O
longer	O
needs	O
to	O
be	O
stored	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
result	O
of	O
research	O
started	O
in	O
1995	O
at	O
the	O
San	O
Diego	O
Supercomputer	O
Center	O
(	O
SDSC	O
)	O
(	O
which	O
was	O
founded	O
by	O
and	O
run	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
by	O
General	O
Atomics	O
)	O
,	O
in	O
response	O
to	O
a	O
DARPA	O
sponsored	O
project	O
for	O
a	O
Massive	O
Data	O
Analysis	O
System	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Led	O
by	O
General	O
Atomics	O
computational	O
plasma	O
physicist	O
Dr.	O
Reagan	O
Moore	O
,	O
development	O
continued	O
through	O
the	O
cooperative	O
efforts	O
of	O
General	O
Atomics	O
and	O
the	O
SDSC	O
on	O
the	O
Storage	B-Operating_System
Resource	I-Operating_System
Broker	I-Operating_System
(	O
SRB	O
)	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
support	O
of	O
the	O
National	O
Science	O
Foundation	O
(	O
NSF	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SRB	O
1.1	O
was	O
delivered	O
in	O
1998	O
,	O
demonstrating	O
a	O
logical	O
distributed	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
with	O
a	O
single	O
Global	B-General_Concept
Namespace	I-General_Concept
across	O
geographically	O
distributed	O
storage	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
that	O
same	O
year	O
,	O
General	O
Atomics	O
acquired	O
the	O
exclusive	O
license	O
to	O
develop	O
a	O
commercial	O
version	O
of	O
SRB	O
,	O
calling	O
it	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DICE	O
team	O
ended	O
development	O
of	O
SRB	O
in	O
2006	O
and	O
started	O
a	O
rules	O
oriented	O
data	B-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
project	O
called	O
iRODS	O
for	O
open	B-Application
source	I-Application
distribution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
General	O
Atomics	O
continued	O
development	O
of	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
at	O
their	O
San	O
Diego	O
headquarters	O
,	O
focusing	O
on	O
capabilities	O
to	O
serve	O
government	O
and	O
commercial	O
users	O
,	O
including	O
high	O
scalability	B-Architecture
,	O
fail-over	B-General_Concept
,	O
performance	O
,	O
implementation	O
,	O
maintenance	O
and	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2009	O
,	O
General	O
Atomics	O
won	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
contract	O
with	O
the	O
US	O
Department	O
of	O
Defense	O
(	O
DOD	O
)	O
High	O
Performance	O
Computing	O
Modernization	O
Program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
requirements	O
of	O
this	O
contract	O
focused	O
General	O
Atomics	O
to	O
expand	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
’s	O
performance	O
,	O
scalability	B-Architecture
,	O
security	O
and	O
ease	O
of	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
major	O
deliverable	O
involved	O
integrating	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
with	O
Oracle	B-Application
Corporation	I-Application
's	O
SAM-QFS	B-Application
filesystem	B-Application
to	O
provide	O
a	O
policy-based	O
Hierarchical	B-Application
Storage	I-Application
Management	I-Application
(	O
HSM	O
)	O
system	O
with	O
near	O
real-time	O
event	O
synchronization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
General	O
Atomics	O
also	O
announced	O
that	O
digital	O
marketing	O
firm	O
infoGROUP	O
deployed	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
to	O
create	O
a	O
Global	O
Name	O
Space	O
across	O
three	O
of	O
infoGROUP	O
’s	O
computer	O
operations	O
centers	O
in	O
the	O
Omaha	O
area	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2012	O
,	O
General	O
Atomics	O
released	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
version	O
4.3	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2014	O
,	O
General	O
Atomics	O
changed	O
the	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
business	O
model	O
from	O
a	O
large	O
government	O
contract	O
,	O
fee	O
for	O
service	O
model	O
,	O
to	O
a	O
standard	O
commercial	O
software	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2015	O
,	O
General	O
Atomics	O
initiated	O
a	O
strategic	O
relationship	O
with	O
/	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
Kingdom	O
,	O
integrating	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
with	O
pixitmedia	O
and	O
arcastream	O
’s	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2016	O
,	O
General	O
Atomics	O
released	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
version	O
5.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2018	O
,	O
probes	O
of	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
marketing	O
and	O
support	O
URLs	O
under	O
the	O
General	O
Atomics	O
corporate	O
umbrella	O
(	O
www.Nirvanastorage.com	O
,	O
www.ga.com/nirvana	O
and	O
https://www.nirvanaware.com	O
)	O
and	O
more	O
recently	O
branded	O
integration	O
offerings	O
such	O
as	O
"	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
EasyHSM	O
"	O
(	O
www.ga.com/easyhsm	O
(	O
mentioned	O
in	O
a	O
Jan	O
.	O
2017	O
marketing	O
slideshare	O
at	O
)	O
)	O
return	O
"	O
cannot	O
be	O
found	O
"	O
from	O
www.ga.com	O
or	O
connection	O
timeout	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
"	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
"	O
keyword	O
search	O
at	O
www.ga.com	O
returns	O
only	O
pages	O
with	O
archived	O
indications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
is	O
client-server	B-Operating_System
software	O
composed	O
of	O
Location	O
Agents	B-General_Concept
that	O
reside	O
on	O
,	O
or	O
access	O
,	O
Storage	O
Resources	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Storage	O
Resource	O
can	O
be	O
a	O
networked-attached	B-Application
storage	I-Application
(	O
NAS	B-Application
)	O
system	O
,	O
object	B-Application
storage	I-Application
system	O
or	O
cloud	B-Application
storage	I-Application
service	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
catalogs	O
the	O
location	O
of	O
the	O
files	O
and	O
objects	O
in	O
these	O
storage	O
resources	O
into	O
its	O
Metadata	O
Catalog	O
(	O
MCAT	O
)	O
and	O
tags	O
the	O
files	O
with	O
storage	O
system	O
metadata	O
(	O
Owner	O
,	O
File	O
Name	O
,	O
File	O
Size	O
and	O
Creation	O
,	O
Change	O
,	O
Modification	O
and	O
Access	O
Timestamps	O
)	O
and	O
additional	O
user-defined	O
,	O
domain	O
specific	O
metadata	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MCAT	O
creates	O
a	O
single	O
Global	B-General_Concept
Namespace	I-General_Concept
across	O
all	O
Storage	O
Resources	O
connected	O
to	O
it	O
so	O
users	O
and	O
administrators	O
can	O
search	O
for	O
,	O
access	O
,	O
and	O
move	O
data	O
across	O
multiple	O
heterogeneous	O
storage	O
systems	O
from	O
multiple	O
vendors	O
across	O
geographically	O
dispersed	O
data	O
centers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MCAT	O
is	O
connected	O
to	O
and	O
interacts	O
with	O
a	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
management	I-Application
system	I-Application
to	O
support	O
its	O
operation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multiple	O
MCATs	O
can	O
be	O
deployed	O
for	O
horizontal	B-Architecture
scale-out	I-Architecture
and	O
failover	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
Clients	B-Protocol
can	O
interact	O
with	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
including	O
the	O
supplied	O
Web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
and	O
Java	B-Language
based	O
GUI	B-Application
Clients	B-Protocol
,	O
a	O
Command	B-Application
Line	I-Application
Interface	I-Application
,	O
a	O
native	O
Windows	B-Application
virtual	O
network	O
drive	O
interface	O
,	O
and	O
user-developed	O
applications	B-Application
via	O
supplied	O
APIs	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
operation	O
is	O
controlled	O
by	O
three	O
daemons	B-Operating_System
;	O
Metadata	O
,	O
Sync	O
and	O
ILM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Metadata	O
Daemon	B-Operating_System
can	O
extract	O
metadata	O
automatically	O
from	O
an	O
instrument	O
creating	O
data	O
,	O
from	O
within	O
the	O
file	O
's	O
actual	O
data	O
using	O
predefined	O
and	O
customizable	O
templates	O
and	O
metadata	O
parsing	O
policies	O
,	O
or	O
capturing	O
user	O
input	O
via	O
the	O
GUI	B-Application
or	O
Command	B-Application
Line	I-Application
Interface	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sync	O
Daemon	B-Operating_System
,	O
running	O
in	O
the	O
background	O
,	O
detects	O
when	O
files	O
are	O
added	O
to	O
,	O
or	O
deleted	O
from	O
,	O
the	O
underlying	O
Storage	O
Resource	O
filesystems	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
filesystem	B-Application
changes	O
are	O
observed	O
by	O
the	O
Sync	O
Daemon	B-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
changes	O
are	O
registered	O
and	O
updated	O
in	O
MCAT	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ILM	O
Daemon	B-Operating_System
routinely	O
queries	B-Library
the	O
MCAT	O
and	O
executes	O
actions	O
including	O
migration	B-General_Concept
,	O
replication	B-Architecture
,	O
or	O
backup	B-Protocol
on	O
a	O
specified	O
schedule	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
ILM	O
policy	O
execution	O
occurs	O
behind	O
the	O
scenes	O
,	O
transparent	B-Operating_System
to	O
end-users	O
or	O
applications	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
's	O
ILM	O
functionality	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
cloud	O
storage	O
gateway	O
,	O
where	O
data	O
stored	O
locally	O
,	O
on	O
premises	O
,	O
can	O
be	O
moved	O
to	O
popular	O
cloud	B-Application
storage	I-Application
services	I-Application
based	O
on	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
's	O
various	O
metadata	O
attributes	O
and	O
policies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2015	O
,	O
General	O
Atomics	O
and	O
ArcaStream	O
announced	O
a	O
cloud	O
storage	O
appliance	B-Architecture
that	O
uses	O
IBM	O
's	O
Spectrum	B-Application
Scale	I-Application
for	O
on	O
premises	O
storage	O
and	O
integrates	O
with	O
cloud	O
storage	O
providers	O
Amazon	B-General_Concept
S3	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
Google	B-General_Concept
Cloud	I-General_Concept
Storage	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
conduct	O
search	O
queries	B-Library
to	O
find	O
data	O
of	O
interest	O
using	O
both	O
system	O
and	O
user-defined	O
metadata	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Queries	B-Library
are	O
either	O
entered	O
in	O
the	O
Command	B-Application
Line	I-Application
Interface	I-Application
or	O
through	O
the	O
Web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
client	O
shown	O
below	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
can	O
automate	O
the	O
grouping	O
and	O
distribution	O
of	O
data	O
files	O
into	O
a	O
virtual	O
collection	O
-	O
based	O
on	O
user-friendly	O
logical	O
rules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
tracks	O
data	O
within	O
workflows	B-Operating_System
,	O
through	O
all	O
transformations	O
,	O
analyses	O
,	O
and	O
interpretations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
,	O
data	O
can	O
be	O
shared	O
and	O
used	O
with	O
verified	O
provenance	O
of	O
the	O
conditions	O
under	O
which	O
it	O
was	O
generated	O
–	O
so	O
results	O
are	O
reproducible	O
and	O
analyzable	O
for	O
defects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
audit	O
every	O
transaction	O
on	O
a	O
data	O
file	O
within	O
a	O
workflow	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Audit	O
trails	O
,	O
like	O
everything	O
else	O
with	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
,	O
can	O
be	O
easily	O
queried	O
and	O
filtered	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
control	O
access	O
to	O
data	O
by	O
setting	O
up	O
specific	O
access	O
control	O
lists	O
by	O
user	O
,	O
group	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
supports	O
single	O
sign-on	O
and	O
access	O
by	O
integrating	O
with	O
the	O
Lightweight	B-Protocol
Directory	I-Protocol
Access	I-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
(	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
)	O
and	O
Active	B-Protocol
Directory	I-Protocol
,	O
using	O
challenge	O
–	O
response	O
authentication	O
,	O
Grid	B-Operating_System
Security	I-Operating_System
Infrastructure	I-Operating_System
(	O
GSI	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
Kerberos	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
analyze	O
the	O
makeup	O
of	O
a	O
shared	O
filesystem	B-Application
to	O
determine	O
what	O
type	O
of	O
data	O
is	O
being	O
stored	O
,	O
how	O
much	O
space	O
it	O
takes	O
up	O
,	O
when	O
it	O
was	O
last	O
accessed	O
,	O
and	O
who	O
stored	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
example	O
below	O
,	O
Nirvana	B-General_Concept
's	O
analysis	O
of	O
data	O
stored	O
on	O
an	O
expensive	O
enterprise	O
NAS	B-Application
storage	O
system	O
showed	O
most	O
data	O
had	O
n't	O
been	O
accessed	O
in	O
over	O
2	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
this	O
data	O
,	O
the	O
organization	O
replaced	O
their	O
enterprise	O
storage	O
system	O
with	O
less	O
expensive	O
object	B-Application
storage	I-Application
to	O
better	O
manage	O
the	O
many	O
small	O
,	O
seldom	O
accessed	O
,	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
