Dependable Benchmarking for Storage Systems in High-Energy Physics

In high-energy physics, storage systems play a crucial role to store and secure very valuable data produced by complex experiments. The effectiveness and efficiency of data acquisition systems of such experiments depends directly on those of these storage systems. Coping with present day rates and reliability requirements of such experiments implies operating high-performance hardware under the best possible conditions, with a broad set of hardware and software parameters existing along the hierarchical levels, from networks down to drives. An extensive number of tests are required for the tuning of parameters to achieve optimised I/O operations. Current approaches to I/O optimisation generally consist of manual test execution and result taking. This approach lacks appropriate modularity, durability and reproducibility, attainable through dedicated testing facilities. The aim of this project is to conceive a user-friendly, dedicated storage benchmarking tool for the improved comparison of I/O parameters in relation to performance.