High performance archival storage system
developed at CERN for LHC physics data
The CERN Tape Archive (CTA) is the archival storage system for the custodial copy of all physics data at CERN.
CTA is implemented as the tape back-end to EOS. EOS + CTA will replace CASTOR as the CERN archival solution for LHC Run–3 and beyond.
Extensive consolidation of the data storage infrastructure culminated in 2020 when the new CERN Tape Archive software (CTA) entered production
Time-lapse video of the installation of the Spectra Logic TFinity tape library in the CERN Data Centre (5 days in 60 seconds)
The Large Hadron Collider produced unprecedented volumes of data during its two multi-year runs, and, with its current upgrades, more computing challenges are in store
The CERN Data Centre passed a major milestone on 29 June 2017 with more than 200 petabytes of data now archived on tape