CERN unveils pan-European cloud computing platform for scientific experiments

Helix Nebula Science Cloud to help in search for Higgs boson

CERN has announced it is developing a pan-European cloud computing platform, with two other leading scientific organisations, which will take advantage of the increased computing power cloud systems offer to help scientists better analyse data.

The research organisation said that with so much data being generated by some of its experiments, including the search for the Higgs boson, and those of other institutions, the development of such a system was crucial.

"CERN's computing capacity needs to keep up with the enormous amount of data coming from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) 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.

While CERN will use the tool to analyse data from the LHC, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) aims to use it to help simplify the analysis of genomes to provide further insight into evolution and biodiversity within a raft of organisms.

The third organisation to start using the cloud-based system will be the European Space Agency (ESA), which will use the system to help generate an observation platform looking at earthquake and volcano incidents around the world.

The service will initially run as a two-year pilot in which the organisation will assess its suitable for helping provide insights into their data, after which time it will be made available to government organisations industry groups.

The development of the Helix Nebula has been supported by organisations including Atos, Capgemini, Interoute, Logica, Orange Business Services, SAP, Telefonica, and Thales, as well as the Cloud Security Alliance.

CERN announced last month that it had increased the power of the LHC as it closes in on the possible discovery of the Higgs, which would prove a huge development in humanity's understanding of much of the universe's construction.