The MAX IV laboratory is Sweden’s most ambitious investment in research infrastructure of all time. In June 2016, the fourth generation of the laboratory was put into operation, which made the MAX IV the world’s brightest synchrotron lighting system. The laboratory’s storage ring for electrons measures a full 528 meters in circumference and is as large as the Colosseum.
Challenge: extreme performance required
Researchers from around the world come to MAX IV every year to conduct experiments in materials science, environmental research, biotechnology and medicine. The MAX IV laboratory can host 2,500 researchers on an annual basis. To handle all critical research data, MAX IV needs a robust IT infrastructure that is also flexible to their needs for high bandwidth and extreme performance.
0.5 seconds of downtime can cause:
- Long downtime for users
- Lost data collection
- Destroyed research samples
Some of the researchers bring samples with them, which are used and exhausted in the experiments. Downtime and data loss would have serious consequences in these situations. In some cases it would be possible to recreate experiments with new samples, but in other cases it would take years or even be impossible to produce new samples.
Total availability required
The collaboration between LOAD and MAX IV is about combining extremely high demands in the areas of availability, data volume and performance. In this IT environment, minimal data loss is critically important. Years of preparation can be wasted, and completed experiments can be impossible to recreate. Availability must be total.
“To achieve and maintain total availability at MAX IV requires not only the right level of technical solution, but also continuous proactivity, regular review and system upgrades from our side,” says Kim Quarnström at LOAD who has worked with the MAX IV project since the end of 2013.
The collaboration in brief:
- LOAD has helped MAX IV to build an IT infrastructure for total availability of the laboratory’s mission-critical systems.
- The collaboration includes the design of the IT environment, recommendations regarding equipment and implementation.
- LOAD continuously acts as a supportive IT partner for MAX IV.