A leading system developer sought to extend the capabilities and mission range of their unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). Minimizing the UUV’s SWaP presented a key opportunity for increasing mission duration and distance. To minimize the footprint of the data storage system onboard the UUV, the developer sought a small form factor network attached storage (NAS) that could deliver the same network services provided by a much larger file server.
Another opportunity to optimize SWaP was provided by implementing remote boot for network clients. With over a dozen network clients, each with its own operating systems (OS) and application software, on board a UUV, using remote boot to eliminate the need for dedicated storage hardware for each client would significantly reduce SWaP. Autonomous vehicles, such as UUVs, have an increased risk for loss or compromise of critical data during deployment. To protect the classified data, the developer required NSA-approved data encryption.
In addition, the program’s accelerated deployment schedule demanded a ready-todeploy solution. Due to time and budget constraints, solutions requiring lengthy RFI/ RFP processes or non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs could not be considered.
