ENERGY EFFICIENT, SPACE EFFICIENT and COST-EFFECTIVE DATA STORAGE SYSTEM FOR HEALTHCARE

Project Information

BasePort

Grant agreement ID: 960060

DOI

10.3030/960060

Project closed

EC signature date 29 June 2020

Start date 1 July 2020

End date 28 February 2023

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 2 491 762,50

EU contribution

€ 1 744 233,75

Coordinated by

SWISS VAULT SYSTEMS GMBH
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - BasePort (ENERGY EFFICIENT, SPACE EFFICIENT and COST-EFFECTIVE DATA STORAGE SYSTEM FOR HEALTHCARE)

Reporting period: 2021-07-01 to 2023-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The promise of Precision Medicine that was envisioned decades ago with the mapping of the human genome is fast becoming a reality. While genomic research is paving the way for significant advances in healthcare, its practice has led to new challenges for biotechnology firms in terms of increasing data volume, variety and complexity. Given that the data representing a single human genome takes up to 100 to 1000 gigabytes of storage space, biotech companies engaged in genomic research must develop the computing infrastructure and skills to manage, store, analyse and interpret massive quantities of highly complex data. Healthcare centres, in particular, need a data storage solution that uses low power, small space, small volume, low weight, and is quiet, and easy to implement. It is quite a challenge for an inner-city hospital to construct and operate a data centre like those built by Google, Amazon, & Microsoft. Current alternatives are either too costly, or exhibit low reliability and/or performance, and none of them achieve the right level of security. In answer to this need, Swiss Vault is developing a high-density, modular data storage system. This will enables organisations to scale their data capabilities in terms of both computing power and storage with high security and low carbon footprint. The goal of the BasePort project is to bring to market a data storage hardware integrated with software that operates with 1/10th power consumption, 1/4th volume, and 1/5th the weight of conventional comparable systems. The innovative form-factor is 10X more energy- & 5X more space-efficient, easy to manage, ideal for Industry 4.0 Smart Cities and Edge computing. Our platform makes data storage a “Green Technology” and enables organizations to reduce their data storage costs and their data-carbon footprint by up to 10-fold. Thanks to this project we will bring to the market the best-in-class solution for storage and management of large data.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The Swiss Vault team is building from the ground up an innovative data storage solution that is purpose built for the Circular Economy and decreases the complexity of managing long-term data, with a focus on the entry market of genomics and healthcare. The efforts over the last 32 months have produced an innovative micro-electronics design, unique component parts, and software defined storage development. Specifically, we have selected component parts for long-lasting, space and energy efficient functionality. We optimized and designed key electronic circuitry for three performance levels (low compute, medium compute and high compute). All 3 systems were fabricated to complete working prototypes and performance tested. The high-end system will be advanced first to commercialization with Contract manufacturing partners. In parallel, we worked to implement our IP strategy. We can now demonstrate the working system meeting our specifications for reducing energy consumption by 10X, and increasing data storage density by 5X per unit basis. The hardware systems adhere to our design principles of recycle, reuse, and repurpose system components. Overall, our current performance metrics demonstrate a lower total cost of data ownership (TCO) over time compared to existing systems.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Swiss Vault is developing an industry leading design and the best-in-class solution for storage and management of large data. Industries including Healthcare, Telecommunications, Seismic, and Astronomy, among others, require an exceptional amount of data storage as well as intensive data access and analysis operations. Our unique hardware design and software setup will ensure rapid data analysis, with secure long-term data storage at very low energy consumption and with small space requirements. Our solution will reduce the carbon footprint for Data Storage by 10X.

The working systems are now undergoing rigorous testing. Our first end-users are large research organizations. The current data storage systems consume 1’500 Watts of power per unit, require extensive construction to house the system and isolate for the heat and noise management. Our benchmarked performance target is 10X lower energy consumption. With less heat and noise, and reduced complexity, we will be able to install a Beta-system in the office environment of our clients to showcase a disruptive paradigm for efficient data management.

As a summary, the key unique advantages of BASEPORT that differentiate it from competing solutions are:
● Data models optimised for genomic & medical data, which boosts analysis speeds, data stability & security, while reducing the hospital’s burden to manage a data storage system. The team’s unique file management software increases security & reduces storage space.
● Genome data analysis faster than conventional server CPU processing. Data analyses is a bottleneck in genomics analysis (often taking 1- 2 days to process). BasePort enables processing in 1 to 3 hours by using clustered low power nodes. This is enabled by parallelization of computation using distributed data. Patients will benefit with faster time to treatment, and hospitals will be able to process more samples.
● Long-lasting design, using parts which increase the productive lifecycle longer than the conventional 3 to 5-year replacement cycle for HPC data servers. We estimate that BasePort hardware, using our VFS software, can manage data for 10+ years, enabling better compliance for long-term data management.
● Smaller footprint in size and weight, & very quiet, which facilitates its use in a standard office environment. This reduces the construction costs and improves security with on-premises storage.

Innovation

Awards