Site report: CERN

1
Site report CERN

• Helge Meinhard (at) cern ch
• HEPiX fall 2005 _at_ SLAC

2
Re-organisation (01-Nov-2005)

• This time, the physics services part of IT
• GD (Grid Deployment) and GM (Grid Middleware)
  merge (I. Bird)
• Physics Services Support (J. Knobloch) Physics
  Database Services (now in ADC), Experiment
  Integration Support and ARDA (now in GD)
• Linux expertise and AFS section (now in ADC)
  joins FIO (T. Cass)
• Openlab section (now ADC) moves to DI
• Bernd Panzer moves to LCG
• Jamie Shiers to lead a coordination team for
  development of LHC computing services across
  regional centres

3
Personnel changes

• John Ferguson (deputy department head) left IT on
  30-Jun-2005
• Frédéric Hemmer to become deputy department head
  on 01-Nov-2005
• Les Robertson acting ad interim

4
Fabric Infrastructure and Operations (1)

• RedHat 7.3 phased out on public services
• Campaign on storage nodes far advanced
• New in machine room since Karlsruhe
• 200 farm PCs (dual Nocona) in production
• 116 disk servers (gt 5 TB usable each, total of
  900 TB gross capacity) part in production, part
  under acceptance test
• 112 midrange servers under acceptance test
• 32-node Infiniband-based cluster for Theory
• Refurbishment of machine room proceeding
• LHS being populated, but power remains limited

Talk
5
Fabric Infrastructure and Operations (2)

• June/July Large number of nodes given to Atlas
  DAQ for tests
• Peak 730 dual-CPU machines
• Another stress test for Quattor successful
• Castor 2 being deployed
• Very close feedback loop with developers
• Aim is to migrate Atlas and CMS by 01/2006
• Lemon monitoring brushed up for installations
  outside CERN

Talk
6
Fabric Infrastructure and Operations (3)

• Seeing new generation tape drives
• 6 LTO-3 in a new STK silo
• High-end STK and IBM drives
• Serial console largely deployed
• Still some software issues to address
• Using SMART test to identify iffy disks
• Batch updates

Talk
al
Talk
7
Architecture and Data Challenges

• OpenLab at the end of first 3 y period
• Continuation being clarified
• Test version of SLC4 released
• No deployment planned on public services
• Interest for service nodes (storage)
• Certification started
• Data bases for physics RAC clusters in production

Talk
Talk
8
Database and Engineering Services

• Sundev discontinued on 01 July 2005
• Solaris no longer a physics platform at CERN
• RARP switched off
• Software licences managed coherently
• LHC_at_home Beam orbit simulation
• CERN screen saver being deployed to all Windows
  clients at CERN
• BOINC added O (100) dual processor machines
  with lt 1 GHz PIII
• AIS applications migrating to Linux servers

Talk
9
Internet services

• Single sign-on coming
• All centrally managed services at CERN
• Windows terminal server popular
• Good thing in terms of security
• New fax service with fax -gt E-mail gateway
• Moving out of roaming profiles
• Pilot to run xp without admin privileges
• PXE-based install now default (no media)

Talk
Talk
10
Communication Systems

• IPX/Novell and Appletalk routing switched off

11
User and Document Support

• InDiCo taking over from CDS Agenda
• Desktop PC procurement and sales streamlined
• CERN stores getting more involved

Talk
12
Computer Security

• IRC and P2P applications banned
• Positive effect very visible
• VPN most important route of malware into CERN
• Actively being discouraged
• Some viruses simply faster than the antivirus
  update

13
Miscellaneous

• CERN School of Computing 04 17 September in St.
  Malo / France very successful
• LCG TDR as well as Computing TDRs of LHC
  experiments submitted
• Proposal for EGEE Phase II submitted