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"Evolution of the Internet" Powers Massive LHC Grid

Posted by Soulskill on from the throttle-this dept.

jbrodkin brings us a story about the development of the computer network supporting CERN's Large Hadron Collider, which will begin smashing particles into one another later this year. We've discussed some of the impressive capabilities of this network in the past. "Data will be gathered from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), which hosts the collider in France and Switzerland, and distributed to thousands of scientists throughout the world. One writer described the grid as a 'parallel Internet.' Ruth Pordes, executive director of the Open Science Grid, which oversees the US infrastructure for the LHC network, describes it as an 'evolution of the Internet.' New fiber-optic cables with special protocols will be used to move data from CERN to 11 Tier-1 sites around the globe, which in turn use standard Internet technologies to transfer the data to more than 150 Tier-2 centers. Worldwide, the LHC computing grid will be comprised of about 20,000 servers, primarily running the Linux operating system. Scientists at Tier-2 sites can access these servers remotely when running complex experiments based on LHC data, Pordes says. If scientists need a million CPU hours to run an experiment overnight, the distributed nature of the grid allows them to access that computing power from any part of the worldwide network"

9 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. The question is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...did it have a "Vista capable" sticker?

  2. Re:I'm impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Yah dude, you know these "scientists" are gonna frag it up with their super-low fiber optic distributed ping. I bet they hack too.

  3. Re:All that and we still have no anti-gravity by Jugalator · · Score: 4, Funny

    You know, we're going through all this, and we're still not anywhere near closer to coming up with a machine that does anti-gravity, alter the strong force or increase the weak. So go invent your own universe where the laws of physics are cheaper to alter. ;)
    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  4. Yeah... by Uncle+Focker · · Score: 3, Funny

    But how well does it play Cyrsis at full settings?

  5. Re:"Parallel Internet"? Pfft. by Afecks · · Score: 2, Funny

    At first, I read that as Goatse Universe... *shudders*

  6. Intelligent Design of the Internet? by OshMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Perhaps we should give equal time to an alternate post about the Intelligent Design of the Internet.

  7. Re:Bitch... by megaditto · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you scientists are so smart, how come you can't spell Hadron?

    --
    Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
  8. I bet you a dollar it doesn't... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ... turn the Earth into a black hole.

  9. Re:How do you know this? by Relic+of+the+Future · · Score: 3, Funny
    Indeed. The lack of flying cars isn't a failure of scientist; it's a failure of engineers. Stop slacking, engineers!

    (Yes, I'm an engineer. And, I admit, I'm slacking.)

    --
    Those who fail to understand communication protocols, are doomed to repeat them over port 80.