A global computing infrastructure developed by CERN to handle the massive amounts of data produced by experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and facilitate data processing and analysis by scientists worldwide. The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) is an international collaborative project that consists of a grid-based computer network infrastructure incorporating over 170 computing centers in 42 countries, as of 2017. It was designed by CERN to handle the prodigious volume of data produced by Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments. By 2012, data from over 300 trillion (3×1014) LHC proton-proton collisions had been analyzed, and LHC collision data was being produced at approximately 25 petabytes per year. As of 2017 the LHC Computing Grid is the world's largest computing grid comprising over 170 computing facilities in a worldwide network across 42 countries scattered around the world that produce a massive distributed computing infrastructure with about 1,000,000 CPU cores, providing more than 10,000 physicists around the world with near real-time access to LHC data.
Data Distribution
The WLCG relies on high-speed networking and internet connectivity to distribute and transfer the enormous volumes of data generated by the LHC experiments. The data is distributed among various computing centers worldwide, allowing researchers to access and process the data remotely.
Distributed Computing
The WLCG is based on distributed computing, where computational tasks are divided among multiple computing resources connected via the internet. This distributed computing model requires online communication protocols, data transfer mechanisms, and resource management techniques to coordinate and execute computing tasks across multiple sites.
Virtual Organization
The WLCG functions as a virtual organization, bringing together computing centers, research institutions, and scientists from different countries and regions. This collaboration is facilitated through online platforms, communication tools, and information-sharing mechanisms. Online technologies are crucial in enabling real-time collaboration, remote access to resources, and efficient communication within the virtual organization.
Grid Middleware
The WLCG employs specialized middleware software to manage and coordinate distributed computing resources. This middleware provides protocols, interfaces, and services that enable online resource discovery, job scheduling, data management, and security mechanisms. These components are crucial for the efficient operation of the computing grid and rely on online technologies to function.