Strategic PartnersIssue 062 records
VAST Data
TACC's Horizon User Guide, updated November 10, documents that early users of the NSF Leadership-Class Computing Facility system at UT Austin work on a shared VAST file system for $HOME and $SCRATCH, without Lustre striping, with a 10-day unbacked scratch purge and a $WORK tier deferred to late 2026. TACC's October 28 report says Horizon has entered only its first phase of early operations as Frontera retires. For public research universities this is an operator design reference, not yet measured performance or reliability evidence.
- Evidence records
- 2
- Cross-source patterns
- 1
- Evidence classes
- 2 public-sector association guidance
- Outcomes
- 2 emerging
- Source freshness
- 2 new this fortnight
- Research completed
- 2026-11-11
Choose a role to see its takeaway beside every record in the ledger.
Patterns across the evidence
Synthesis · Lighthouse Advisory interpretation
Horizon's VAST user file systems are in early operations, not yet production evidence
TACC's Nov 10 user guide places Horizon's $HOME and $SCRATCH on a shared VAST file system with $WORK deferred to late 2026, and TACC's Oct 28 feature says Horizon has only entered its first phase of early operations, with AI hardware deployment still underway. Interpretation: for public research universities this is a credible operator design reference, but there are no measured performance, reliability or user-outcome results yet, and capacity figures in the guide are inconsistent.
Operating questionBefore citing Horizon in a university or state research-computing storage decision, which measured early-user throughput, availability and migration results will TACC publish, and when will $WORK and production status arrive?
Supporting evidenceTACC's Horizon User Guide (updated Nov 10, 2026) puts NSF LCCF early users on shared VAST $HOME and $SCRATCH, with $WORK deferred to late 2026TACC reports Frontera retired in October 2026 and Horizon in its first phase of early operations with exabyte-capacity storage in place
Evidence ledger
Full record · every source keeps its link and limitations
TACC's Horizon User Guide (updated Nov 10, 2026) puts NSF LCCF early users on shared VAST $HOME and $SCRATCH, with $WORK deferred to late 2026
The Horizon User Guide, last updated November 10, 2026 and labeled a draft in progress, states that Horizon, the NSF Leadership-Class Computing Facility system at UT Austin, uses a shared VAST file system for $HOME and $SCRATCH. These file systems are not Lustre and do not support stripe count or stripe size settings. $WORK (VAST) is unavailable to early users and planned for late 2026. $SCRATCH has no quota, about 400 PB overall capacity, no backup and a 10-day access-time purge. A notice dated 07/24/2026 still limits Horizon to internal users.
Why it matters, evidence and limitations
- Why it matters
- Direct higher-education research relevance: the largest NSF academic system documents VAST as its primary user file system, giving public universities and state research consortia an operator-written reference for policies, quotas and migration from Lustre. Limited: early-access documentation, not a performance or reliability evaluation.
- Evidence and measured results
- Opened the TACC documentation page; Horizon section shows 'Last update: November 10, 2026' and HTTP Last-Modified 10 Nov 2026 17:37 GMT. File-system table, notices and purge policy read directly. The specific edit made on Nov 10 cannot be identified from the page.
- Limitations and uncertainty
- Draft documentation; internal inconsistency between 'up to 200PB' local solid-state storage in the specification table and '~400 PB' scratch capacity in the file-system table; quotas listed as TBD; no measured throughput, uptime or user outcomes; operator rather than independent evaluator.
TACC reports Frontera retired in October 2026 and Horizon in its first phase of early operations with exabyte-capacity storage in place
TACC's Oct. 28, 2026 feature on the ninth TACCSTER symposium reports that Frontera was retired in October 2026 after more than eight million jobs and that Horizon, the NSF LCCF centerpiece, has entered its first phase of early operations. Executive Director Dan Stanzione announced that power infrastructure is complete, an exabyte-capacity storage system is in place, and initial deployment of Horizon's AI-focused hardware is underway. The article does not name VAST or give a production date.
Why it matters, evidence and limitations
- Why it matters
- Newly relevant tonight because the Nov 10 Horizon User Guide update ties this early-operations milestone to VAST user file systems, and it was resurfaced in Nov 10 regional coverage. For public research universities, it marks the transition of a large VAST-backed academic system from construction to early user operation.
- Evidence and measured results
- Opened the original TACC news page (by Jorge Salazar, Oct. 28, 2026); read the 'Frontera Sunsets, Horizon Dawns' section. Statements are attributed to TACC leadership. No storage metrics.
- Limitations and uncertainty
- Predates the last completed run (used for why-now context); institutional news, not an evaluation; VAST not named; 'exabyte-capacity storage system' likely aggregates tiers and should not be attributed wholly to VAST.
How to read this edition
Source findings, measured results and limitations come from the cited publications. Patterns, operating questions, role takeaways and implementation considerations are Lighthouse Advisory interpretation, stated as questions to validate locally rather than guaranteed outcomes. Vendor and operator claims are labeled as claims. Full research method.
- Public-sector association guidance
- Practitioner guidance or an association-supplied case; not independent outcome evidence.