Using IKAROS as a data transfer and management utility within the KM3NeT computing model

Abstract

KM3NeT is a future European deep-sea research infrastructure hosting a new generation neutrino detectors that - located at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea - will open a new window on the universe and answer fundamental questions both in particle physics and astrophysics. IKAROS is a framework that enables creating scalable storage formations on-demand and helps addressing several limitations that the current file systems face when dealing with very large scale infrastructures. It enables creating ad-hoc nearby storage formations and can use a huge number of I/O nodes in order to increase the available bandwidth (I/O and network). IKAROS unifies remote and local access in the overall data flow, by permitting direct access to each I/O node. In this way we can handle the overall data flow at the network layer, limiting the interaction with the operating system. This approach allows virtually connecting, at the users level, the several different computing facilities used (Grids, Clouds, HPCs, Data Centers, Local computing Clusters and personal storage devices), on-demand, based on the needs, by using well known standards and protocols, like HTTP.