European research pilots cloud computing resource
Leading IT providers have teamed up with three of Europe’s largest research centres this month to launch a new cloud computing system. CERN, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the European Space Agency will be the first to enjoy the processing power of the platform – which has been named “Helix Nebula – the Science Cloud” – for such activities as the search for the Higgs Boson, the study of geological disasters and unravelling the secrets of DNA.
This pan-European collaboration – which will offer flexible and robust computing services for research and innovation – is in keeping with the digital agenda of the European Commission. Following a two-year pilot phase, Helix Nebula will be made available to governmental and industrial organisations.
CERN will be making use of the cloud platform to process more data from the ATLAS experiment, on the Large Hadron Collider. ATLAS is involved in the search for the Higgs Boson and physics beyond the standard model – such as supersymmetry and extra-dimensions.
“CERN’s computing capacity needs to keep-up with the enormous amount of data coming from the Large Hadron Collider and we see Helix Nebula- the Science Cloud as a great way of working with industry to meet this challenge,” said Frédéric Hemmer, head of CERN’s IT department.
The European Space Agency [ESA] – in collaboration with the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, the German Aerospace Center and the Italian National Research Council – will be creating an Earth observation platform, with the aim of undertaking research into earthquakes and volcanoes.
“Helix Nebula – the Science Cloud is a partnership with the potential to support an utmost exploitation of ESA satellite data, as well as to bring other communities on board to better understand the geophysical phenomena of our planet,” said Volker Liebig, the ESA Director for Earth observation programmes.
In addition, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory will be launching a new service to simplify the analysis of larger genomes: such as found in mammal DNA. These studies will offer greater knowledge into the evolution and diversity of a wide number of organisms.
The commercial partners involved in Helix Nebula are Atos, Capgemini, CloudSigma, Interoute, Logica, Orange Business Services, SAP, SixSq, Telefónica, Terradue, Thales, The Server Labs and T-Systems; in tandem with the Cloud Security Alliance, the OpenNebula Project and the European Grid Infrastructure.
For more information, please visit the Helix Nebula Facebook page or follow their twitter account.
