- 2017-06-29 08:05:06
- Article ID: 677253
Brookhaven Lab's Scientific Data and Computing Center Reaches 100 Petabytes of Recorded Data
Total reflects 17 years of experimental physics data collected by scientists to understand the fundamental nature of matter and the basic forces that shape our universe
-
Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory
(Back row) Ognian Novakov, Christopher Pinkenburg, Jérôme Lauret, Eric Lançon, (front row) Tim Chou, David Yu, Guangwei Che, and Shigeki Misawa at Brookhaven Lab's Scientific Data and Computing Center, which houses the Oracle StorageTek tape storage system where experimental data are recorded.
-
Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Inside one of the automated tape libraries at the Scientific Data and Computing Center (SDCC), Eric Lançon, director of SDCC, holds a magnetic tape cartridge. When scientists need data, a robotic arm (the piece of equipment in front of Lançon) retrieves the relevant cartridges from their slots and loads them into drives in the back of the library.
“This is a major milestone for SDCC, as it reflects nearly two decades of scientific research for the RHIC nuclear physics and ATLAS particle physics experiments, including the contributions of thousands of scientists and engineers,” said Brookhaven Lab technology architect David Yu, who leads the SDCC’s Mass Storage Group.
SDCC is at the core of a global computing network connecting more than 2,500 researchers around the world with data from the STAR and PHENIX experiments at RHIC—a DOE Office of Science User Facility at Brookhaven—and the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe. In these particle collision experiments, scientists recreate conditions that existed just after the Big Bang, with the goal of understanding the fundamental forces of nature—gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear—and the basic structure of matter, energy, space, and time.
Big Data Revolution
The RHIC and ATLAS experiments are part of the big data revolution. These experiments involve collecting extremely large datasets that reduce statistical uncertainty to make high-precision measurements and search for extremely rare processes and particles.
For example, only one Higgs boson—an elementary particle whose energy field is thought to give mass to all the other elementary particles—is produced for every billion proton-proton collisions at the LHC. More, once produced, the Higgs boson almost immediately decays into other particles. So detecting the particle is a rare event, with around one trillion collisions required to detect a single instance. When scientists first discovered the Higgs boson at the LHC in 2012, they observed about 20 instances, recording and analyzing more than 300 trillion collisions to confirm the particle’s discovery.
At the end of 2016, the ATLAS collaboration released its first measurement of the mass of the W boson particle (another elementary particle that, together with the Z boson, is responsible for the weak nuclear force). This measurement, which is based on a sample of 15 million W boson candidates collected at LHC in 2011, has a relative precision of 240 parts per million (ppm)—a result that matches the best single-experiment measurement announced in 2007 by the Collider Detector at Fermilab collaboration, whose measurement is based on several years’ worth of collected data. A highly precise measurement is important because a deviation from the mass predicted by the Standard Model could point to new physics. More data samples are required to achieve the level of accuracy (80 ppm) that scientists need to significantly test this model.
The volume of data collected by these experiments will grow significantly in the near future as new accelerator programs deliver higher-intensity beams. The LHC will be upgraded to increase its luminosity (rate of collisions) by a factor of 10. This High-Luminosity LHC, which should be operational by 2025, will provide a unique opportunity for particle physicists to look for new and unexpected phenomena within the exabytes (one exabyte equals 1000 petabytes) of data that will be collected.
Data archiving is the first step in making available the results from such experiments. Thousands of physicists then need to calibrate and analyze the archived data and compare the data to simulations. To this end, computational scientists, computer scientists, and mathematicians in Brookhaven Lab’s Computational Science Initiative, which encompasses SDCC, are developing programming tools, numerical models, and data-mining algorithms. Part of SDCC’s mission is to provide computing and networking resources in support of these activities.
A Data Storage, Computing, and Networking Infrastructure
Housed inside SDCC are more than 60,000 computing cores, 250 computer racks, and tape libraries capable of holding up to 90,000 magnetic storage tape cartridges that are used to store, process, analyze, and distribute the experimental data. The facility provides approximately 90 percent of the computing capacity for analyzing data from the STAR and PHENIX experiments, and serves as the largest of the 12 Tier 1 computing centers worldwide that support the ATLAS experiment. As a Tier 1 center, SDCC contributes nearly 23 percent of the total computing and storage capacity for the ATLAS experiment and delivers approximately 200 terabytes of data (picture 62 million photos) per day to more than 100 data centers globally.
At SDCC, the High Performance Storage System (HPSS) has been providing mass storage services to the RHIC and LHC experiments since 1997 and 2006, respectively. This data archiving and retrieval software, developed by IBM and several DOE national laboratories, manages petabytes of data on disk and in robot-controlled tape libraries. Contained within the libraries are magnetic tape cartridges that encode the data and tape drives that read and write the data. Robotic arms load the cartridges into the drives and unload them upon request.
When ranked by the volume of data stored in a single HPSS, Brookhaven’s system is the second largest in the nation and the fourth largest in the world. Currently, the RACF operates nine Oracle robotic tape libraries that constitute the largest Oracle tape storage system in the New York tri-state area. Contained within this system are nearly 70,000 active cartridges with capacities ranging from 800 gigabytes to 8.5 terabytes, and more than 100 tape drives. As the volume of scientific data to be stored increases, more libraries, tapes, and drives can be added accordingly. In 2006, this scalability was exercised when HPSS was expanded to accommodate data from the ATLAS experiment at LHC.
“The HPSS system was deployed in the late 1990s, when the RHIC accelerator was coming on line. It allowed data from RHIC experiments to be transmitted via network to the data center for storage—a relatively new idea at the time,” said Shigeki Misawa, manager of Mass Storage and General Services at Brookhaven Lab. Misawa played a key role in the initial evaluation and configuration of HPSS, and has guided the system through significant changes in hardware (network equipment, storage systems, and servers) and operational requirements (tape drive read/write rate, magnetic tape cartridge capacity, and data transfer speed). “Prior to this system, data was recorded on magnetic tape at the experiment and physically moved to the data center,” he continued.
Over the years, SDCC’s HPSS has been augmented with a suite of optimization and monitoring tools developed at Brookhaven Lab. One of these tools is David Yu’s scheduling software that optimizes the retrieval of massive amounts of data from tape storage. Another, developed by Jérôme Lauret, software and computing project leader for the STAR experiment, is software for organizing multiple user requests to retrieve data more efficiently.
Engineers in the Mass Storage Group—including Tim Chou, Guangwei Che, and Ognian Novakov—have created other software tools customized for Brookhaven Lab’s computing environment to enhance data management and operation abilities and to improve the effectiveness of equipment usage.
STAR experiment scientists have demonstrated the capabilities of SDCC’s enhanced HPSS, retrieving more than 4,000 files per hour (a rate of 6,000 gigabytes per hour) while using a third of HPSS resources. On the data archiving side, HPSS can store data in excess of five gigabytes per second.
As demand for mass data storage spreads across Brookhaven, access to HPSS is being extended to other research groups. In the future, SDCC is expected to provide centralized mass storage services to multi-experiment facilities, such as the Center for Functional Nanomaterials and the National Synchrotron Light Source II—two more DOE Office of Science User Facilities at Brookhaven.
“The tape library system of SDCC is a clear asset for Brookhaven’s current and upcoming big data science programs,” said SDCC Director Eric Lançon. “Our expertise in the field of data archiving is acknowledged worldwide.”
Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
MORE NEWS FROM
Brookhaven National Laboratory
comments 
commenting policy
The Spintronics Technology Revolution Could Be Just a Hopfion Away
A research team co-led by Berkeley Lab has created and observed quasiparticles called 3D hopfions at the nanoscale (billionths of a meter) in a magnetic system. The discovery could advance high-density, high-speed, low-power, yet ultrastable magnetic memory "spintronics" devices.
Field guides: Argonne scientists bolster evidence of undiscovered particles or forces in Muon g-2 experiment
The first result from the Muon g-2 experiment points to the existence of undiscovered particles or forces. These findings could have major implications for future particle physics experiments and could lead to greater understanding of how the universe works.
Powerful polymers: ORNL study provides new insights into N95's COVID-19 filter efficiency
Research results on the N95 filter media, recently published in ACS Applied Polymer Materials, outline the science behind what led to ORNL's successful production of material on the CFTF's precursor production line.
Caught in the act: New data about COVID-19 virus's functions could aid in treatment designs
For the first time, a team of researchers has captured X-ray images of a critical enzyme of the COVID-19 virus performing its function. This discovery could improve design of new treatments against the disease.
Less than a nanometer thick, stronger and more versatile than steel
Scientists from Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University and the University of Florida report a breakthrough involving a material called borophane, a sheet of boron and hydrogen a mere two atoms in thickness.
Story Tips: Mighty Mo Material, Fueling Retooling, Goods on the Move, Doubling Concrete and Batteries Passport
ORNL story tips: Mighty Mo material, fueling retooling, goods on the move, doubling concrete and batteries passport
This hydrogen fuel machine could be the ultimate guide to self improvement
Scientists at Berkeley have uncovered an extraordinary self-improving property that transforms an ordinary semiconductor into a highly efficient and stable artificial photosynthesis device
April Snapshots
Science Snapshots from Berkeley Lab: X-rays accelerate battery R&D; infrared microscopy goes off grid; substrates support 2D tech
Quantum material's subtle spin behavior proves theoretical predictions
Using complementary computing calculations and neutron scattering techniques, researchers from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories and the University of California, Berkeley, discovered the existence of an elusive type of spin dynamics in a quantum mechanical system.
Research confirms ingredient in household cleaner could improve fusion reactions
Research led by PPPL scientists provides new evidence that particles of boron, the main ingredient of Borax household cleaner, can coat internal components of doughnut-shaped plasma devices known as tokamaks and improve the efficiency of the fusion reactions.
Department of Energy to Provide $25 Million toward Development of a Quantum Internet
Today the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a plan to provide $25 million for basic research toward the development of a quantum internet.
Department of Energy to Provide $5 Million to Advance Workforce Development for High Energy Physics Instrumentation
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced plans to provide $5 million to support a DOE traineeship program to address workforce needs in high energy physics instrumentation.
DOE Awards $110 Million to Small Businesses Pursuing Scientific, Clean Energy, and Climate Solutions
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced awards totaling $110 million for diverse small businesses working on scientific, clean energy, and climate solutions for the American people.
Teachers Invited to Participate in Virtual Science Activities Night
Elementary and middle school teachers are invited to register now to participate in the annual Virginia Region II Teacher Night hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility on April 14, 2021. The fully virtual event will allow educators to see demonstrations of new methods for teaching physical science concepts and safely meet and interact with their colleagues, all while they pick up one recertification point from the comfort of their own homes. Advance registration is required, and the event is open to all upper elementary and middle school teachers of physical science.
DOE Announces $29 Million for Ultramodern Data Analysis Tools
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $29 million to develop new tools to analyze massive amounts of scientific information, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced algorithms.
Argonne's 2021 Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellows bring new energy, promise to their fields
The Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory is proud to welcome five new FY21 Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellows to campus, each chosen for their incredible promise in their respective fields.
DOE Announces $54 Million for Microelectronics Research to Power Next-Generation Technologies
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced up to $54 million in new funding for the agency's National Laboratories to advance basic research in microelectronics. Microelectronics are a fundamental building block of modern devices such as laptops, smartphones, and home appliances, and hold the potential to power innovative solutions to challenges like the climate crisis and national security.
Department of Energy to Provide $12 Million for Research on Advanced Networking
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced plans to provide up to $12 million for basic research on advanced 5G and quantum networking. Our modern life has been transformed by wireless and cellular networks, creating a world where humans all over the globe can communicate with each other instantaneously.
U.S. Department of Energy Announces $34.5 Million for Data Science and Computation Tools to Advance Climate Solutions
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced up to $34.5 million to harness cutting-edge research tools for new scientific discoveries, including clean energy and climate solutions. Two new funding opportunities will support researchers using data science and computation-based methods--including artificial intelligence and machine learning--to tackle basic science challenges, advance clean energy technologies, improve energy efficiency, and predict extreme weather and climate patterns.
U.S. Department of Energy Announces $30M for Research to Secure Domestic Supply Chain of Critical Elements and Minerals
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced up to $30 million to support scientific research that will ensure American businesses can reliably tap into a domestic supply of critical elements and minerals, such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, needed to produce clean energy technologies.
Harvesting Energy from Light using Bio-inspired Artificial Cells
Scientists designed and connected two different artificial cells to each other to produce molecules called ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
Engineering Living Scaffolds for Building Materials
Bone and mollusk shells are composite systems that combine living cells and inorganic components. This allows them to regenerate and change structure while also being very strong and durable. Borrowing from this amazing complexity, researchers have been exploring a new class of materials called engineered living materials (ELMs).
Excavating Quantum Information Buried in Noise
Researchers developed two new methods to assess and remove error in how scientists measure quantum systems. By reducing quantum "noise" - uncertainty inherent to quantum processes - these new methods improve accuracy and precision.
How Electrons Move in a Catastrophe
Lanthanum strontium manganite (LSMO) is a widely applicable material, from magnetic tunnel junctions to solid oxide fuel cells. However, when it gets thin, its behavior changes for the worse. The reason why was not known. Now, using two theoretical methods, a team determined what happens.
When Ions and Molecules Cluster
How an ion behaves when isolated within an analytical instrument can differ from how it behaves in the environment. Now, Xue-Bin Wang at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory devised a way to bring ions and molecules together in clusters to better discover their properties and predict their behavior.
Tune in to Tetrahedral Superstructures
Shape affects how the particles fit together and, in turn, the resulting material. For the first time, a team observed the self-assembly of nanoparticles with tetrahedral shapes.
Tracing Interstellar Dust Back to the Solar System's Formation
This study is the first to confirm dust particles pre-dating the formation of our solar system. Further study of these materials will enable a deeper understanding of the processes that formed and have since altered them.
Investigating Materials that Can Go the Distance in Fusion Reactors
Future fusion reactors will require materials that can withstand extreme operating conditions, including being bombarded by high-energy neutrons at high temperatures. Scientists recently irradiated titanium diboride (TiB2) in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) to better understand the effects of fusion neutrons on performance.
Better 3-D Imaging of Tumors in the Breast with Less Radiation
In breast cancer screening, an imaging technique based on nuclear medicine is currently being used as a successful secondary screening tool alongside mammography to improve the accuracy of the diagnosis. Now, a team is hoping to improve this imaging technique.
Microbes are Metabolic Specialists
Scientists can use genetic information to measure if microbes in the environment can perform specific ecological roles. Researchers recently analyzed the genomes of over 6,000 microbial species.
Spotlight
Graduate students gather virtually for summer school at PPPL
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Virtual internships for physics students present challenges, build community
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Blocking the COVID-19 Virus's Exit Strategy
Brookhaven National Laboratory
From Nashville to New Hampshire, PPPL's student interns do research, attend classes and socialize from their home computers
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Graduate student at PPPL Ian Ochs wins top Princeton University fellowship
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Chicago Public School students go beyond coding and explore artificial intelligence with Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory
Barbara Garcia: A first-generation college student spends summer doing research at PPPL
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Argonne organization's scholarship fund blazes STEM pathway
Argonne National Laboratory
Brookhaven Lab, Suffolk Girl Scouts Launch Patch Program
Brookhaven National Laboratory
From an acoustic levitator to a "Neutron Bloodhound" robot, hands-on research inspires PPPL's summer interns
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Brookhaven Lab Celebrates the Bright Future of its 2019 Interns
Brookhaven National Laboratory
PPPL apprenticeship program offers young people chance to earn while they learn high-tech careers
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
JSA Awards Graduate Fellowships for Research at Jefferson Lab
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
ILSAMP Symposium showcases benefits for diverse students, STEM pipeline
Argonne National Laboratory
Integrating Scientific Computing into Science Curricula
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Students from Minnesota and Massachusetts Win DOE's 29th National Science Bowl(r)
Department of Energy, Office of Science
DOE's Science Graduate Student Research Program Selects 70 Students to Pursue Research at DOE Laboratories
Department of Energy, Office of Science
Young Women's Conference in STEM seeks to change the statistics one girl at a time
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Students team with Argonne scientists and engineers to learn about STEM careers
Argonne National Laboratory
Lynbrook High wins 2019 SLAC Regional Science Bowl competition
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Equipping the next generation for a technological revolution
Argonne National Laboratory
Chemistry intern inspired by Argonne's real-world science
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne intern streamlines the beamline
Argonne National Laboratory
Research on Light-Matter Interaction Could Lead to Improved Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
Innovating Our Energy Future
Oregon State University, College of Engineering
Physics graduate student takes her thesis research to a Department of Energy national lab
University of Alabama at Birmingham
"Model" students enjoy Argonne campus life
Argonne National Laboratory
Writing Code for a More Skilled and Diverse STEM Workforce
Brookhaven National Laboratory
New graduate student summer school launches at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
The Gridlock State
California State University (CSU) Chancellor's Office
Meet Jasmine Hatcher and Trishelle Copeland-Johnson
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Argonne hosts Modeling, Experimentation and Validation Summer School
Argonne National Laboratory
Undergraduate Students Extoll Benefits of National Laboratory Research Internships in Fusion and Plasma Science
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Students affected by Hurricane Maria bring their research to SLAC
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Brookhaven Lab Pays Tribute to 2018 Summer Interns
Brookhaven National Laboratory
CSUMB Selected to Host Architecture at Zero Competition in 2019
California State University, Monterey Bay
From Hurricane Katrina Victim to Presidential Awardee: A SUNO Professor's Award-Winning Mentoring Efforts
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Department of Energy Invests $64 Million in Advanced Nuclear Technology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
Professor Miao Yu Named the Priti and Mukesh Chatter '82 Career Development Professor
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
2018 RHIC & AGS Annual Users' Meeting: 'Illuminating the QCD Landscape'
Brookhaven National Laboratory
High-School Students Studying Carbon-Based Nanomaterials for Cancer Drug Delivery Visit Brookhaven Lab's Nanocenter
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Argonne welcomes The Martian author Andy Weir
Argonne National Laboratory
UW Professor and Clean Energy Institute Director Daniel Schwartz Wins Highest U.S. Award for STEM Mentors
University of Washington
Creating STEM Knowledge and Innovations to Solve Global Issues Like Water, Food, and Energy
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA)
Professor Emily Liu Receives $1.8 Million DoE Award for Solar Power Systems Research
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
Celebrating 40 years of empowerment in science
Argonne National Laboratory
Showing results
0-6 Of 2215