The IGWN Computing Grid¶

Achieving the research goals of the IGWN collaborations requires a massive amount of computing power, with special infrastructure to enable researchers to utilise the resources effectively.

These pages describe the IGWN Computing Grid (ICG) infrastructure, including the Computing Centres available to IGWN members, as well as tutorials on how to utilise those resources effectively.

What is the IGWN Computing Grid?¶

The IGWN Computing Grid is a distributed, high-throughput computing (DHTC) infrastructure that enables processing of scientific workflows on a geographically disparate array of resources, including utilities for remote access to data and services.

The IGWN Computing Grid is made up of dedicated computing resources provided by IGWN member groups as well as opportunistic resources from external partners, connected through support infrastructure maintained in partnership with the Open Science Grid.

The Grid infrastructre is underpinned by these key technologies:

• HTCondor
• The Open Science Grid
• The Open Science Data Federation

and many more.

How to use the grid¶

For comprehensive instructions on how effectively use the IGWN Computing Grid, please refer to the pages under the 'Using the Grid' section in the navigation menu.

For an introductory overview and tutorial for using the IGWN Computing Grid see the "REFERENCE" presentation attached to LIGO-G2100613 (LIGO.ORG credentials required), which is intended for offline consumption.

Available Computing Centres¶

See the pages under the Computing Centres navigation dropdown for a list of Computing Centres that can be directly accessed by IGWN members.

Access to computing centres¶

Direct access to the computing centres is, in general, not centrally managed (the exception being the LDG, see below); to gain access to a specific computing centre, please refer to the instructions on that site's page (see the links under the Computing Centres subheading in the navigation menu).

The LIGO Data Grid¶

The LIGO Data Grid (LDG) is a subset of the IGWN Computing Grid operated by the LIGO Laboratory and LIGO Scientific Collaboration member groups that share common infrastructure. In particular accounts and access management for all LDG computing centres is centrally controlled from a single web portal.

For full details on the LDG, its members, and its configuration, see The LIGO Data Grid (LDG).