The Advanced Data Analytics Platform (ADAPT): Concept, Design, Architecture, and Operation

NASA scientists are uniquely positioned to research and understand the processes affecting the Earth’s climate. To study these important processes, scientists must address the Big Data challenges posed by working with massive amounts of observational and climate model output data. The Advanced Data Analytics Platform (ADAPT) is a cyber infrastructure resource specifically designed to reduce the friction between scientists and data. The system includes a high-performance storage cloud surrounded by large-scale compute resources. A very high-performing network enables fast access to the data stored within ADAPT. Furthermore, the system allows users to bring their applications to the data and define the environment in which those applications run. The science results can then be stored for future analysis or shared through static and dynamic data services within ADAPT without having to move the data or make additional copies. The agility, flexibility, and extensibility of the system make it ideal for NASA scientists to produce science results quickly by analyzing large data sets.