"Where the Web was born"
CERN has a reputation for being at the forefront of networking technology - "where the Web was born" is the lab's motto. When it comes to grid technology, this is particularly true: CERN is leading some of the most ambitious grid projects in the world.

The challenge of the LHC data
CERN is using grid technology to solve a huge data storage and analysis challenge: that of the LHC. When the Large Hadron Collider starts running in 2008, it will be the biggest scientific instrument in the world. Thousands of scientists across the planet will be clamouring for access to the streams of data that will come out of the instrument. The LHC will produce about 15 Petabytes of data every year, which is more than 1000x the amount of information in book form printed every year around the world

These data will be a goldmine for finding traces of new exotic fundamental particles of matter, which in turn will tell physicists a lot more about how the Universe was formed and what its future might be.