LCG MCDB—a knowledgebase of Monte-Carlo simulated events

In this paper we report on LCG Monte-Carlo Data Base (MCDB) and software which has been developed to operate MCDB. The main purpose of the LCG MCDB project is to provide a storage and documentation system for sophisticated event samples simulated for the LHC Collaborations by experts. In many cases, the modern Monte-Carlo simulation of physical processes requires expert knowledge in Monte-Carlo generators or significant amount of CPU time to produce the events. MCDB is a knowledgebase mainly dedicated to accumulate simulated events of this type. The main motivation behind LCG MCDB is to make the sophisticated MC event samples available for various physical groups. All the data from MCDB is accessible in several convenient ways. LCG MCDB is being developed within the CERN LCG Application Area Simulation project.

Program summary

Program title: LCG Monte-Carlo Data BaseCatalogue identifier: ADZX_v1_0Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADZX_v1_0.htmlProgram obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. IrelandLicensing provisions: GNU General Public LicenceNo. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 30 129No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 216 943Distribution format: tar.gzProgramming language: PerlComputer: CPU: Intel Pentium 4, RAM: 1 Gb, HDD: 100 GbOperating system: Scientific Linux CERN 3/4RAM: 1 073 741 824 bytes (1 Gb)Classification: 9External routines:

•

perl >= 5.8.5;

•

Perl modules

○

DBD-mysql >= 2.9004,

○

File::Basename,

○

GD::SecurityImage,

○

GD::SecurityImage::AC,

○

Linux::Statistics,

○

XML::LibXML > 1.6,

○

XML::SAX,

○

XML::NamespaceSupport;

•

Apache HTTP Server >= 2.0.59;

•

mod auth external >= 2.2.9;

•

edg-utils-system RPM package;

•

gd >= 2.0.28;

•

rpm package CASTOR-client >= 2.1.2-4;

•

arc-server (optional)

Nature of problem: Often, different groups of experimentalists prepare similar samples of particle collision events or turn to the same group of authors of Monte-Carlo (MC) generators to prepare the events. For example, the same MC samples of Standard Model (SM) processes can be employed for the investigations either in the SM analyses (as a signal) or in searches for new phenomena in Beyond Standard Model analyses (as a background). If the samples are made available publicly and equipped with corresponding and comprehensive documentation, it can speed up cross checks of the samples themselves and physical models applied. Some event samples require a lot of computing resources for preparation. So, a central storage of the samples prevents possible waste of researcher time and computing resources, which can be used to prepare the same events many times.Solution method: Creation of a special knowledgebase (MCDB) designed to keep event samples for the LHC experimental and phenomenological community. The knowledgebase is realized as a separate web-server (http://mcdb.cern.ch). All event samples are kept on types at CERN. Documentation describing the events is the main contents of MCDB. Users can browse the knowledgebase, read and comment articles (documentation), and download event samples. Authors can upload new event samples, create new articles, and edit own articles.Restrictions: The software is adopted to solve the problems, described in the article and there are no any additional restrictions.Unusual features: The software provides a framework to store and document large files with flexible authentication and authorization system. Different external storages with large capacity can be used to keep the files. The WEB Content Management System provides all of the necessary interfaces for the authors of the files, end-users and administrators.Running time: Real time operations.References:[1] The main LCG MCDB server, http://mcdb.cern.ch/.[2] P. Bartalini, L. Dudko, A. Kryukov, I.V. Selyuzhenkov, A. Sherstnev, A. Vologdin, LCG Monte-Carlo data base, hep-ph/0404241.[3] J.P. Baud, B. Couturier, C. Curran, J.D. Durand, E. Knezo, S. Occhetti, O. Barring, CASTOR: status and evolution, cs.oh/0305047.