Performance of the NorduGrid ARC and the Dulcinea Executor in ATLAS Data Challenge 2

Abstract

This talk describes the various stages of ATLAS Data Challenge 2 (DC2) in what concerns usage of resources deployed via NorduGrid's Advanced Resource Connector (ARC). It also describes the integration of these resources with the ATLAS production system using the Dulcinea executor. ATLAS Data Challenge 2 (DC2), run in 2004, was designed to be a step forward in the distributed data processing. In particular, much coordination of task assignment to resources was planned to be delegated to Grid in its different flavours. An automatic production management system was designed, to direct the tasks to Grids and conventional resources. The Dulcinea executor is a part of this system that provides interface to the information system and resource brokering capabilities of the ARC middleware. The executor translates the job definitions recieved from the supervisor to the extended resource specification language (XRSL) used by the ARC middleware. It also takes advantage of the ARC middleware's built-in support for the Globus Replica Location Server (RLS) for file registration and lookup. NorduGrid's ARC has been deployed on many ATLAS-dedicated resources across the world in order to enable effective participation in ATLAS DC2. This was the first attempt to harness large amounts of strongly heterogeneous resources in various countries for a single collaborative exercise using Grid tools. This talk addresses various issues that arose during different stages of DC2 in this environment: preparation, such as ATLAS software installation; deployment of the middleware; and processing. The results and lessons are summarized as well. (Less)