Integrating Instruments in the Grid for On-line and Off-line Processing in a Synchrotron Radiation Facility

Experimental stations in facilities like Synchrotrons and Free Electron Lasers produce very large data sets. With access to distributed computing paradigms and Grid infrastructures, the data are processed on-line. This requires considerable computing power and storage requirements. Moreover, the constant advances in sensors, detectors, and light source technologies yield frequent upgrades of the instrumentation and proportional increase of the computing requirements. Other than the computing needs, a key-point for successful experiments is the efficient collaboration between the involved scientists and their convenient access to the research facilities. A viable solution is developing suitable infrastructures that allow remote operation of the experimental facilities. We focus on the importance of the transparent integration of instruments in the traditional Grid. Such capability boosts further the concept of remote operation, on-line & off-line processing, and builds collaborative and distributed virtual research environments. Building on the foundations of previous European projects, the aim of DORII (Deployment of Remote Instrumentation Infrastructure) (1) is to develop and operate an infrastructure that addresses this issue and supports multiple activities of eScience. We will describe how we have applied the DORII infrastructure on remote operations and on-line & off-line processing in a synchrotron radiation facility.