FY24 - VAST - Part 2

The data storage server equipment will be used to store data within the USSS CID Data Center in support of the USSS Investigative and Protective Missions.

CID is seeking a data storage server solution that can support providing high speed storage capacity with 2 petabyte effective memory space. The server design must allow for future expansion of effective storage capacity to a minimum of 4 petabytes; however, due to the unpredictable nature of criminal investigations systems designed to support expansion to 10 petabytes of effective storage and beyond are preferred. Any system that utilizes a tiered memory format where a combination of NVMe-oF and traditional spinner hard drives will not be considered as those systems are significantly slower due to design of the spinner hard drives and their interfaces.

The entire storage server system must support the use of the latest generation of NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) which includes an extension of the NVMe network protocol to Ethernet and Fibre Channel delivering faster and more efficient connectivity between storage and servers, as well as a reduction in CPU utilization of application host servers.

The storage server system must support multiple data communication protocols including Server Message Block (SMB), Network File System (NFS) communication protocol, and Amazon Simple Storage Service interface known as “S3” for shorthand which allows uses like storage for Internet applications, backups, disaster recovery, data archives, data lakes for analytics, and hybrid cloud storage. Any system that does not support all three protocols SMB, NFS and S3 will not be considered. Any system that uses proprietary data communication system which mimics SMB, NFS or S3 but does not natively support these protocols will not be considered due to processing overhead and compatibility issues that can result from the use of proprietary systems.

The storage server system components must be capable of inclusion into the existing VAST storage clusters for replication and future use of the VAST DataSpace. This storage system must also support the VAST Database like functionality without the use of a 3rd party application.

CID will only consider purchasing a data storage server which can fully reside on- premises. Systems that require the use of external cloud providers will not be considered.

USSS engineers have identified the following storage server system requirements needed to support existing and future operations. The engineering team has determined that VAST Data Storage Server solution meets all their requirements. USSS will only accept responses from VAST authorized resellers.