Data to Decisions: Leveraging Advanced Data Storage and Big Data Analytics to Support ISR Operations and Decision Support

Through the collection, protection, and dissemination of data, advanced data storage and analysis solutions are revolutionizing Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities and operations. Intelligent Data Storage (IDS), Software Defined Storage (SDS), and a new storage type called Rack-Scale Flash are all demonstrating real performance and operational benefits, and opening the door to fundamentally changing user expectations.

Modern ISR systems are critical to nearly every facet of military missions, intelligence operations, and national security. The operational utility of these systems are dependent upon, and can be dramatically enhanced by, the supporting communication and information technology (IT) solutions. These solutions include the post-sensor collection, efficient storage, effective protection, collaborative access, and sharing of ISR data and analytical results.

The rapid evolution of IDS, such as EMC’s Isilon Scale-Out Network Attached Storage, provides operating system-based storage with automation to eliminate most of the manually-intensive tasks such as configuration management, load balancing, performance tiering, and failover/failback capabilities. This IDS solution is enabling a revolution in tactical and data center operations. For instance, field operations that may have once required senior IT/data storage specialists to handle the installation, configuration setup, and operation are mostly, if not completely, automated now and can be performed by junior enlisted personnel. Likewise, theater-level and larger data center operations, which previously required many people to manage petabytes of data, are now regularly managed by one or just a few people. In some cases, the efficient application of IDS has demonstrated 90 percent or greater savings – thereby freeing up the resources for reallocation to other higher priority mission areas; such as cybersecurity and data analytics. In addition, IDS has inherent cybersecurity resiliency capabilities, which cannot be implemented in traditional hardware-based storage. These cyber capabilities can turn data storage into a data-driven early warning and detection system to feed your Security Information Event Management (SIEM) or predictive analytics system, such as the RSA Security Analytics.

SDS, such as EMC’s Elastic Cloud Storage or IsilonSD Edge, is another recent development with the potential of fundamentally changing the ISR operational landscape. The ability to procure full-featured IDS solutions with inherent cybersecurity resiliency capabilities provides incredible flexibility and a world of new opportunities.

Finally, recent advances in all-flash technology, such as EMC’s DSSD Rack-Scale Flash, represent a true industry disruptor. With its 10x performance improvements over traditional flash, microsecond latency, and breakthrough architecture, it’s so innovative that industry analysts, such as IDC and Gartner Group, had to create a new data storage category to accommodate it. This is a performance revolution for ISR operations, and ISR organizations can leverage these benefits of all-flash storage solutions:

• Performance: The latest Rack-Scale, all-flash storage is designed to optimize the performance of flash – not just enable flash to be inserted into architectures and equipment operations. Rack-Scale Flash optimizes any Near Real-Time (NRT) applications running in the ISR environment and opens the door for advanced development of true Real-Time (RT) applications. Flash is essential to enable the delivery of mission-critical ISR capabilities at the speed of now. Faster access to ISR results translates into enhanced Command and Control (C2) and RT decision support

• Analytics and reporting: All-flash storage enables users to capitalize on the next generation of predictive analytics with the ability to link and correlate information in new ways for ISR operational efficiencies, better allocation of resources, more effective prioritization, and proactive analytics to include integration with security analytics

• Virtualized applications:  All-flash storage dramatically improves the performance of virtualized applications by eliminating latency at the point of the spear (RT) and during subsequent analytical operations (NRT). A key ISR objective is delivering the right data to the right person at the right time, and Rack-Scale Flash provides an order of magnitude greater performance (over traditional architecture flash) to ensure mission accomplishment

Each of these advanced data storage solutions: IDS, SDS, and Rack-Scale Flash, offers Federal government customers the opportunity to simplify operations, cut costs, and improve ISR operational performance. At every step in the process – from collection, protection, analysis, and collaborative sharing of data ‒ these innovative storage capabilities provide new competitive advantages for end users and Federal Systems Integrators alike.

For more information on these innovative ISR mission support solutions, contact your EMC Strategic Alliance Partner Manager, or ping us at www.emc.com.

Author information

Audie Hittle

Federal CTO, Emerging Technologies Division, EMC Corporation

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