Canadian Light Source Data Centre

Canadian Light Source Data Centre
Name	Canadian Light Source Data Centre
Location	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Established	2000s
Type	Synchrotron data facility
Director	(see University of Saskatchewan)
Operating agency	Canadian Light Source
Website	(institutional)

Canadian Light Source Data Centre The Canadian Light Source Data Centre is the principal data facility supporting the synchrotron research operations at the Canadian Light Source in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It provides storage, processing, and archival capabilities for beamline experiments, interfacing with national and international partners to serve users from universities, national laboratories, and industry. The centre underpins experimental programs across materials science, biology, chemistry, and environmental studies through robust computing and networking infrastructure.

Overview

The centre functions as the central repository and processing hub for data generated by beamlines at the Canadian Light Source and connects to institutions such as the University of Saskatchewan, National Research Council (Canada), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Industry Canada, and provincial partners. It serves researchers affiliated with universities like McGill University, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, McMaster University, and University of Alberta as well as national laboratories including TRIUMF, National Research Council Canada, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The centre supports multi-institutional projects funded by agencies such as Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Genome Canada, Mitacs, and international bodies like the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron.

Infrastructure and Facilities

Infrastructure investments include high-density storage arrays, tape libraries, and purpose-built server rooms co-developed with partners: Siemens, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell Technologies, and EMC Corporation. The physical facility includes controlled-environment halls similar to those at Diamond Light Source, SOLEIL, SPring-8, and MAX IV Laboratory. Environmental monitoring systems draw on standards developed with National Institute of Standards and Technology, Canadian Standards Association, and building partners from Saskatoon City development projects. The centre's hardware lifecycle and procurement involved collaborations with companies such as Intel Corporation, NVIDIA, Cisco Systems, NetApp, and Hitachi Data Systems.

Data Acquisition and Management

Data acquisition pipelines integrate detector systems and data formats used in beamlines comparable to detectors from Dectris, Pilatus, Eiger (detector), Rayonix, and Andor Technology. Data management workflows reference standards and tools developed alongside groups at European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Riken (The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research), Max Planck Society, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Metadata schemes and archival strategies align with initiatives like FAIR principles, coordination with Canadian Bioinformatics Resource, and repositories such as Protein Data Bank, Electron Microscopy Data Bank, Zenodo, Dryad (repository), and Figshare. The centre implements data integrity and provenance mechanisms inspired by projects at CERN, Large Hadron Collider, Human Genome Project, International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration, and International Union of Crystallography.

Computing and Networking

High-performance computing at the centre links to clusters and clouds operated by partners including Compute Canada, WestGrid, ACENET, Calcul Québec, and international grid resources like Open Science Grid. GPU-accelerated processing uses hardware and software stacks from NVIDIA CUDA, AMD, Intel Xeon Phi, and frameworks developed by teams at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Networking connects via regional and national research networks such as CANARIE, Saskatchewan Research Network, Internet2, GEANT (network), and backbone providers affiliated with CERNET, REANNZ, and APAN. Data transfer tools and protocols reference work from Globus (software), GridFTP, rsync, and initiatives coordinated with Internet Society and ICANN stakeholders.

Services and User Support

User support covers proposal management, experiment scheduling, data reduction, and training coordinated with user offices at Canadian Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Diamond Light Source, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, and university user support groups including University of Toronto Department of Physics, McGill Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta Faculty of Science, McMaster Faculty of Science, and University of British Columbia Department of Materials Engineering. Software services include data reduction packages and pipelines informed by work at European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Protein Data Bank, CCP4, Phenix (software), RELION, and tools contributed by communities like Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry. Training programs and workshops are offered in partnership with agencies such as Canadian Light Source Users' Association, National Research Council (Canada), Compute Canada, and international summer schools at ESRF, Diamond Light Source, and SPring-8.

Research and Collaborations

The centre supports research spanning structural biology, catalysis, materials characterization, and environmental science with collaborations involving institutions like University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre, Canadian Light Source Users' Association, Saskatchewan Health Authority, Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS), Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Mitacs, Genome Prairie, Natural Resources Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and industry partners including BASF, Dow Chemical Company, Siemens, Bayer, and 3M. International scientific collaborations connect projects to consortia such as Human Frontier Science Program, International Union of Crystallography, Consortium for Advanced Radiation Sources, Biological Magnetic Resonance Data Bank, and multinational research programs between institutions like KEK, RIKEN, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, and CNRS.

Category:Canadian research infrastructure Category:Synchrotron-related facilities