Systems/Enterprise:
CERN TO BUILD MASSIVE
DATA GRID
IBM and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced
that
IBM is joining the CERN openlab for DataGrid applications to collaborate in
creating a massive data-management system built on Grid computing. IBM's
innovative storage virtualization and file management technology will play a
pivotal role in this collaboration, which aims to create a data file system
far larger than exists today to help scientists at the renowned particle
physics research center understand some of the most fundamental questions
about the nature of matter and the universe.
Conceived in IBM Research as Storage Tank, the new technology is designed
to
provide scalable, high-performance and highly available management of huge
amounts of data using a single file namespace regardless of where or on what
operating system the data reside. IBM and CERN will work together to extend
Storage Tank's capabilities so it can manage and provide access from any
location worldwide to the unprecedented torrent of data -- billions of
gigabytes a year -- that CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is expected to
produce when it goes online in 2007. The LHC is the next-generation particle
accelerator. It will recreate -- on a tiny scale -- conditions that existed
shortly after the Big Bang, enabling researchers to answer outstanding
questions about what the universe is made of and the laws that govern its
behaviour.
The very same CERN community that invented the World Wide Web in 1990 is
now
developing a new application for the Internet -- Grid computing - that will
push technology limits with its data processing requirements for the LHC. CERN
openlab is a collaboration between CERN and leading industrial partners, which
aims to create and implement data-intensive Grid-computing technologies that
will aid the LHC scientists. Because the same issues facing CERN are becoming
increasingly important to the IT industry, the CERN openlab and its innovative
partners -- which include Enterasys Networks, HP and Intel -- are eager to
explore new computing and data management solutions far beyond today's
Internet-based computing.
By 2005, the CERN openlab collaboration with IBM is expected to be able to
handle up to a petabyte (a million gigabytes) of data, which is equivalent to
the information stored in 20 million four-draw filing cabinets full of paper,
or 500 million floppy disks, or 1.5 million CD-ROMs.
"CERN has a long-standing collaborative relationship with IBM, and we are
delighted that IBM is joining the CERN openlab for DataGrid applications,"
said Wolfgang von Ruden, Information Technology Division Leader and Head of
the CERN openlab. "Together with IBM, we aim to achieve a one petabyte storage
solution and integrate it with the Grid that CERN is building to handle the
extreme data challenges of the LHC project."
"CERN's scientists and colleagues want to be able to get to their data
wherever it may be -- local or remote and regardless of which operating system
on which it may reside," said Jai Menon, IBM Fellow at IBM's Almaden Research
Center (San Jose, Calif.) and co-director of IBM's Storage Systems Institute
joint program between IBM Research and the company's product division. "This
is the perfect environment for us to enhance Storage Tank to meet the
demanding requirements of large-scale Grid computing systems."
As part of the agreement, several leading storage management experts from
IBM's Almaden and Haifa (Israel) Research Labs will work with the CERN openlab
team. In addition, through its Shared University Research (SUR) program, IBM
will supply CERN with the system's initial 20 terabytes of high-performance
disk storage, a cluster of six eServer xSeries systems running Linux and on-
site engineering support and services by IBM Switzerland. The SUR award is
valued at $1.5 million for the first year.
Storage Tank employs policy-based storage management to help lower its
"total
cost of ownership." Clustering and specialized protocols that detect network
failures enable very high reliability and availability
In this initiative, IBM is following a collaboration strategy initiated in
2001 with the European Union-sponsored European Data Grid project, which is
also led by CERN.
About CERN
CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the world's largest
particle physics centre near Geneva, Switzerland. Technological development at
CERN has given the world advances as varied as medical imaging and the World
Wide Web. Founded in 1954, the laboratory was one of Europe's first joint
ventures and has become a shining example of international collaboration. From
the original 12 signatories of the CERN convention, membership has grown to
the present 20 member states. More information about CERN is available at
www.cern.ch/.
About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of
leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across
IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions
and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full
advantage of the new era of e-business. IBM's Shared University Research (SUR)
program provides computing equipment and research collaborations to
institutions around the world for advanced research projects in areas of
mutual interest and benefit, including: Grid Computing, Autonomic Computing,
Life Sciences and Deep Computing. The SUR awards also connect top academic
researchers with IBM Research personnel, and representatives from product-
development and solution-provider communities. IBM awards about 50 SUR grants
per year worldwide. For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com.
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