iRODS

The Integrated Rule-Oriented Data System (iRODS) is an open-source data management software in use at research organizations and government agencies worldwide.  iRODS is supported and maintained by the iRODS Consortium at RENCI, a research institute of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH).

iRODS Overview

The result of nearly 25 years and $25M+ of funded research from more than 30 projects, the current release of iRODS is a production-level distribution aimed at deployment in mission critical environments.  It functions independently of storage resources, and abstracts data control away from storage devices and device location, allowing users to take control of their data.  As data volumes grow and data services become more complex, iRODS is increasingly important in data management.  The development infrastructure supports exhaustive testing on supported platforms; plug-in support for microservices, storage resources, drivers, and databases; and extensive documentation, training and support services.

Project Team

  • Terrell Russell, Executive Director
  • Kory Draughn, Chief Technologist
  • David Fellinger, Storage Scientist and Data Management Technologist
  • Dawn (Carsey) Shelton, Event Planner
  • Justin James, Applications Engineer
  • Laura Capps, Contracts Specialist
  • Alan King, Senior Software Developer
  • Daniel Moore, Applications Engineer
  • Markus Kitsinger, Developer

Consortium Overview

The iRODS Consortium was created to ensure the sustainability of iRODS and to further its adoption and continued evolution.  To this end, the Consortium works to standardize the definition, development, and release of iRODS-based data middle-ware technologies; evangelize iRODS among potential users; promote new advances in iRODS; and expand the adoption of iRODS-based data middleware technologies through the development, release, and support of an open-source, mission-critical, production-level distribution of iRODS.

The Consortium works with universities, research organizations, businesses, and government agencies to guide the continued development of iRODS, obtain funding to support that development, and broaden the iRODS user community.  Consortium members receive a variety of benefits, including prioritized access to support, training, and consulting and the opportunity to influence the developmental roadmap of future software releases, thus providing both adopters and resellers of iRODS and other iRODS-based data middleware technologies a way to protect their investments.

Consortium members provide governance through the Executive Board and influence roadmap decisions through the Planning Committee.  The Technical Working Group is composed of Consortium staff and satellite teams contributed by member organizations.

View a list of current iRODS Consortium members on the iRODS website.

Resources

Read more about the Consortium and how to become a member at irods.org/about/.