nCloud

Overview

The Chinese University of Hong Kong developed a software-defined network-coding-based cloud storage system, called nCloud. nCloud adapts the network coding theory on performance-critical operations and emphasizes storage efficiency, performance, and fault tolerance for geo-distributed cloud data centers.

  • nCloud 0
  • nCloud 1
  • nCloud 2
Research completion
2022
Commercialisation opportunities
contract services, collaborative projects
Problem addressed

In view to address the storage performance and reliability demands in enterprises hyper-scale data storage, the Chinese University of Hong Kong applies the network coding theory to develop the software-defined storage, nCloud. nCloud provides storage-efficient, high performance, and fault-tolerant geo-distributed cloud data center storage, leveraging the hierarchical nature of geo-distributed cloud data centers for reduce cross-data-center data traffic.

Innovation
  • Achieve storage efficiency via network coding
  • Improve the repair performance of network-coded storage in hierarchical settings
  • Support software-defined storage management
Key impact
  • High storage efficiency
  • High repair performance
  • Security guarantees
  • Scalability for geo-distributed environments
Award
  • The Golden Award in the 1st Greater Bay Area 5G Application and Innovation Challenge
  • Winner of IPHatch Hong Kong 2019
  • Hong Kong Science Park LEAP Program 2020
  • 2021 CAHK STAR Awards - Best Startup Award
  • 2021 CAHK STAR Awards - Best 5G Application
  • 2021 CAHK STAR Awards - Best 5G Connected Arena
  • Hong Kong Cyberport and PwC " - Road to GBA Start-up Challenge" 2021
Application
  • Backup and archival storage
  • Document management
  • Virtual disk management

Patent

  • Chinese Patent: CN107395207B
  • Chinese Patent: CN111796966A
  • Chinese Patent: CN110597655A
  • Chinese Patent: CN112152798A
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Founded in 1963, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a forward-looking comprehensive research university with a global vision and a mission to combine tradition with modernity, and to bring together China and the West. CUHK teachers and students hail from all around the world. Four Nobel laureates are associated with the university, and it is the only tertiary institution in Hong Kong with recipients of the Nobel Prize, Turing Award, Fields Medal and Veblen Prize sitting as faculty in residence. CUHK graduates are connected worldwide through an extensive alumni network. CUHK undertakes a wide range of research programmes in many subject areas, and strives to provide scope for all academic staff to undertake consultancy and collaborative projects with industry. 

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