A simple mass storage system for the SRB data grid

The functionality that is provided by Mass Storage Systems can be implemented using data grid technology. Data grids already provide many of the required features, including a logical name space and a storage repository abstraction. We demonstrate how management of tape resources can be integrated into data grids. The resulting infrastructure has the ability to manage archival storage of digital entities on tape or other media, while maintaining copies on distributed, remote disk caches that can be accessed through advanced discovery mechanisms. Data grids provide additional levels of data management including the ability to aggregate data into containers before storage on tape, and the ability to migrate collections across a hierarchy of storage devices.