The biggest advance in computing since the Web
The University's Department of Physics and Astronomy is contributing to a novel project based at CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory and home to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The project promises to deliver the biggest leap forward in computer interconnectivity since the invention of the World Wide Web in 1989.
Drs Dan Tovey and Davide Costanzo are contributing computing power to the 'Grid' which, like the web, has been developed by CERN physicists. Known as GridPP, the project is a collaboration of Particle Physicists and Computing Scientists from 19 UK universities, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and CERN, who have built an interconnected `Grid´ of worldwide computers capable of handling the huge volume of data being produced by the LHC.
Just as the web transformed the way we share data, the Grid is expected to be the next big leap in computing. The Internet and the World Wide Web are increasingly an integral part of people's lives, helping the world share information and transfer data quickly and easily. However, although it has radically changed the way society operates, the web merely distributes information.
Experts believe that the next step in computing is to share all resources, including computing power, data storage and information, on a global scale. The vision for Grid computing is that the end user will experience it essentially as one large computer system, giving them access to the pooled computing power of all users connected up to the Grid.
The Grid is currently being used by academics who need to process a high volume of data, such as physicists, biologists, mathematicians and economists. In the future, it is expected that other disciplines could benefit from the Grid, including researchers in the fields of Medicine and the Arts & Humanities.
The Grid is an example of Cloud Computing, which is a way of using the Internet to pool and share computer resources. The Grid currently gives 10,000 physicists around the world access to the LHC data, which would not be possible if every institution needed to store this data individually. Currently the Grid can process up to 10 petabytes a year, which is equivalent to the storage capacity of 20 million CDs. To give an idea of the enormous computing capacity this represents, if this number of CDs were stacked vertically, they would form a tower 300 metres high. The University of Sheffield currently contributes 100 Terabytes to the Grid and computing power equivalent to 250 desktop PCs.
Dr Davide Costanzo: "The Grid works by pooling the computing resources of institutions around the world. In this way, each institution can access a degree of computing power way beyond what any single centre could house. We´re pleased to be able to report that the University of Sheffield is one of the most reliable sites in the UK."
The Grid is a practical solution to the problems of storing and processing the large quantities of data that will be produced by industry and the scientific communities over the next decade. But the Grid will not just be the preserve of specialists, as Dr Costanzo explains: "By the late 1980s, the Internet was still the preserve of academics and high-level computer users, but this all changed with the invention of the web at CERN in 1989 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. In the 15 or so years since it was first put online, the web has become a publicly accessible tool. We envisage that the Grid will follow a similar route to mass market use."
For more information, please contact Dr Davide Costanzo at:
email : d.costanzo@sheffield.ac.uk
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