What is Azure Managed Lustre?
Azure Managed Lustre is a fully managed parallel file system based on Lustre, optimized for High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Machine Learning workloads. The service provides high throughput and low latency for compute-intensive applications.
Lustre is a distributed file system widely used in supercomputing environments. Azure Managed Lustre brings this technology to the cloud as a managed service without customers having to operate the complex Lustre infrastructure themselves.
Core Features
- Parallel file system with throughput up to 500 GB/s
- POSIX-compatible file system for HPC applications
- Integration with Azure Blob Storage for data tiering
- Scalable capacity from TBs to PBs
- VNet integration for secure network connectivity
Typical Use Cases
HPC Simulations: Engineering and scientific simulations (CFD, FEM) require parallel access to large datasets with lowest latency.
Machine Learning Training: Large ML models train faster when training data can be read in parallel from hundreds of GPUs.
Genomics and Life Sciences: Genome sequencing and bioinformatics pipelines process terabytes of data with high I/O requirements.
Benefits
- No Lustre expertise required
- Automatic integration with Azure Blob for cold storage
- Scalable with HPC and GPU compute clusters
- Fast provisioning in minutes instead of days
Frequently Asked Questions
What throughput rates are possible?
Azure Managed Lustre offers throughput from 125 MB/s to 1000 MB/s per TiB capacity, depending on configuration.
Can I load data from Blob Storage?
Yes, HSM (Hierarchical Storage Management) enables automatic loading of data from Azure Blob Storage into Lustre and back.
Which VMs are supported?
HBv3, HBv4, NDv4, NDv5, and other HPC/GPU-optimized VMs are ideal for Managed Lustre.
How does Managed Lustre differ from Azure Files?
Azure Files is optimized for general-purpose workloads. Managed Lustre is designed for extreme parallelism and throughput in HPC workloads.
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory supports you with HPC and AI workloads using Azure Managed Lustre. We help with architecture, integration, and performance optimization.
Contact us for a non-binding consultation on Azure Managed Lustre.
