NCAR storage accounting and analysis possibilities

While most HPC operators diligently track computing usage and utilization on a job-by-job basis, far fewer sites have implemented mechanisms for tracking and accounting for usage of their storage systems. As we enter an era of larger and larger data sets, the need to monitor, track, and analyze users' consumption of storage resources becomes more critical for planning, operating, and managing petascale storage environments. NCAR's Computational and Information Systems Laboratory has long had a formal accounting mechanism in place for its archival storage system and has recently extended a similar mechanism to its recently acquired 11-PB disk resource. The collected data helps both NCAR's users and administrators by supporting reports and analyses to guide the use and management of these vital resources.