Introduction
As an administrator, integrating storage solutions can feel overwhelming. The business wants the fastest storage at the lowest cost. Your role as a storage administrator is to consider the workloads of the business and strike the right balance between storage cost and efficiency.
Azure HPC Cache gives your data the speed needed for high-performance computing (HPC) workloads. With this caching service, you can also start and stop the service so you only pay for what you need when you need it.
Example scenario
Suppose you're a storage administrator for an animation studio. The studio's latest animated movie is being released in a few weeks. Artists and animators are still making finishing touches on the production. The director needs to review and approve the final changes.
The process of rendering the video on the studio's local storage runs overnight. Because of the impending deadline, changes must be reviewed on the same day and can't wait for an overnight render. You need to determine whether a storage caching solution like HPC Cache can help you complete your video renders during the workday.
What will you be doing?
In this module, you examine whether Azure HPC Cache is the solution you need, by looking at:
- Protocol: What storage protocol is supported?
- Storage: What storage can be accelerated with the cache service?
- Workload: Is my workload a good fit for caching?
- Network: What network connection is ideal?
- Clients: What types of clients should be used and where should they be located?
What is the main goal?
By the end of this module, you should be able to determine if HPC Cache can help you accelerate storage for your HPC clients.