The ALICE Analysis Facility Prototype at GSI

Abstract

In LHC Run 3 the ALICE Computing Model will change. The Grid Tiers will to a large extend be specialised for a given role. 2/3 of the reconstruction and calibration will be done at the combined online and offline O2 compute facility, 1/3 will be done by the Tier1 centres in the Grid. Additionally all Tier1 centres, as already now, will take care of archiving one copy of the raw data on tape. The Tier2 centres will only do simulation. The AODs will will be collected on specialised Analysis Facilities which shall be capable of processing 10 PB of data within 24 hours. A prototype of such an Analysis Facility has been set up at GSI based on the experiences with the local ALICE Tier2 centre which has been in production since 2002. The main components are a general purpose HPC cluster with a mounted cluster file system enhanced by Grid components like an XRootD based Storage Element and an interface for being able to receive and run dedicated Grid jobs on the Analysis Facility prototype. The necessary I/O speed as well as easy local data access is facilitated by self developed XRootD PlugIns. Performance tests with real life ALICE analysis trains suggest that the target throughput rate can be achieved.