Grid

The relationship between science and technology is very similar to a game of leapfrog. Scientists want to carry out 'impossible' experiments; developments in technology make the impossible possible. New phenomena are discovered when these experiments are carried out and these phenomena will in turn need to be investigated in “impossible” experiments.

Physicists have enjoyed such a relationship with ICT for many years now. Two physicists designed the very first electronic digital computer in 1939; they thought they would be able to explain the structure of crystals with a theory, but in practice the calculations were impossible to perform on the mechanical calculators of that time. Fifty years later the first web browser and web server were developed at CERN to make it easier for scientists to share their results via the Internet. Nikhef was also among the pioneers with the fourth website in the world.

The leapfrog game not only applies to technology but also to quantities. Ten years ago our researchers knew that the experiments with the LHC would yield several petabytes (1 petabyte = 1 million gigabytes) of data each year. And 10 years ago it was "impossible" to deal with such a large quantity of data. The solution for this is the Grid: A collection of thousands of computers spread throughout the world, linked together by fast networks and equipped with software that allows all of the computers to function as a single system with which scientists can store, disseminate, process and analyse their data. Researchers at Nikhef have been working on the development of this grid since 2000.

Calculating power
Calculating power is also needed to process the petabytes of data; the Grid has a calculating power equivalent to about 50,000 PCs (several thousand of which are located in Amsterdam). The system is not only used for subatomic physics. Scientists in the fields of brain research (for example with MRI scanners), biodiversity, simulation drug discovery, and astrophysics all perform calculations via the grid on Nikhef's computers.

Besides working on our own grid systems, Grid researchers at Nikhef are mainly working on the development of even better grid software and the transfer of their knowledge, to allow scientists with an 'impossible' data problem to benefit from the Grid.

• Big Grid, the Dutch Grid initiative
• VL-e, the virtual laboratory for e-science
• EGEE, the European Grid project

Nikhef is participating in the European EGEE Grid, which besides many European partners also includes several partner institutes from outside Europe. Collectively this grid forms a single, large, bundled machine that scientists from throughout the world can make use of.

Visit the Grid website