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KLOE-2 – New tape library to improve data storage

kloe_libreriaKLOE-2 is the main experiment of the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati and presently acquiring data at the DAFNE accelerator.
Upgraded with new detectors, KLOE-2 exhibits a greatly improved discovery potential with respect to previous KLOE experiment,  including quantum interference with neutral K mesons and high precision study of the intrinsic properties of matter particles (kaon) with respect to anti-matter particles (anti-kaon).

The second KLOE-2 data taking campaign started last September aiming to collect more than 5 billion neutral K mesons in the next two years.
To collect information on what happened in the detector and to study the particles produced during collisions, KLOE-2 uses its own computer centre with a cluster of IBM Power7 and Power8 machines and an IBM automated tape library for data storage.
Custom software developed by members of the KLOE-2 collaboration allows to access data stored in the tape library via robotic arms and provides the researchers with a transparent management of the data towards the achievement of new physics results.
A new library was recently acquired to fulfil the experiment storage requirements, the IBM TS4500 with 10 TByte tape drives, achieving a 800 Mbyte per second speed in tape writing and reading. Presently at INFN there are no other units achieving such performances.
Present storage capabilities is 5.5 PByte obtained with one single module hosting up to 550 tape cartridges and 16 writing and reading tape drives. Each tape of the new library could store about 1400 movies in DVD format, or 400 movies in the new Blu-Ray format. The library can be expanded up to 175,5 PByte, for a total of 17550 tape cartridges.


WATCH THE VIDEO (in italian): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpXtfGqCdN4