LHC Network
The Times Online had an interesting article on the network Cern is having to setup for the LHC. To summarise, they’re going to have an annual data transfer of 37,384TB of data (They said 56m CDs, so that’s just an estimate).
Their grid network has been built with dedicated fibre optic cables and modern routing centres, meaning there are no outdated components to slow the deluge of data. The 55,000 servers already installed are expected to rise to 200,000 within the next two years.
Anyway, it’s well worth a read. I’d just love to get to play in their datacenter!