Infrastructure
The European Grid Infrastructure (EGI) is a publicly funded e-infrastructure put together to give European scientists access to the computing resources they need to drive research and innovation within their own research domains.
What is an e-infrastructure?
Infrastructures are the physical structures and facilities we need to operate a functional society – examples of public infrastructures include roads & motorways, the power-cable network or airports. Likewise, an e-infrastructure provides the electronic infrastructure needed to support different activities – examples of public e-Infrastructure include networks, storage, data, computers or other resources that are integrated to serve a particular need. EGI is a collection of computers grouped together in resource centres, in turn connected to each other through high-performance network links. The overall picture is a geographically distributed network of computer clusters which can be accessed by all authorised users.
Also as other public-interest infrastructures, EGI provides services that enable other activities to flourish. Roads pave the way to quicker and more efficient movement of people and goods – thus benefiting the economy and society. EGI allows researchers to share information securely, analyse data efficiently and collaborate with colleagues worldwide – thus driving research and innovation to the next level.
How does this work in practice?
Keeping EGI operating effectively 24/7 thereby allowing researchers to make the most of what it has to offer is a complex task that involves three main areas:
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Operations looks after service provision and guarantees that every resource centre is well integrated in the infrastructure.
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Technology coordinates the work between technology providers and operations, making sure that new software is validated and ready for deployment.
