Data Collection and Dissemination at CERN

CERN, the European Council for Nuclear Research, operates for approximately 10 hours per day. During peak performance, the four experimental data collection devices collect up to a billion particle collisions per second. All data collected is sorted by computer algorithms to refine the data to only pertinent, or significant data points. As millions of reactions occur each second in similar conditions, many of the individual events have repetitious outcomes that become insignificant due to their similarity and the knowledge previously derived from them. After filtering the information, data is sorted again into separate types of events. Categorization of events allow further data analysis to be performed more efficiently and with more significance to researchers. Even with these applied filters, this equates to an excess of 20 Terabytes of collected data per day. 

Before the invention of the Worldwide Web, developed and instituted by CERN as a new method of data dissemination and a standardized format for computers to communicate, this data was collected on 1 Terabyte disks, saturating the storage of each disk in about 30 minutes. Each disk retained data of 600,000 proton-proton collisions and these disks, including the copies produced for redundancy, were stored in the CERN facility for analysis and posterity. Tim Berners-Lee invented the “web” in 1989 upon noting the difficulty that independent researchers had with sharing their collected findings with one another during their visits to CERN. Using hypertext, or later HTML, and inspired by the success of the developing internet, Berners-Lee developed the first server and web browser for use inside CERN. His work was released for public use in 1991. 

The data at CERN has since been integrated to the Worldwide Web to aid in communication and understanding for students and researchers across the globe. The 1 Terabyte tapes are now available for sale in the CERN gift shop as they no longer serve a relevant purpose at the facility.