When science meets technology: the ASTRI ICT infrastructure developed in collaboration with E4 Company
ASTRI Mini-Array is taking shape at the Teide Observatory in Tenerife: seven Cherenkov telescopes have already been installed and will soon become nine, creating a unique system for studying gamma rays from the Universe.
Such an ambitious project does not rely solely on the opto-mechanical system of the telescopes and the focal plane cameras: behind the scenes an advanced ICT (Information and Communication Technology) infrastructure is at work, designed to effectively support the software that remotely controls each instrument, acquires and analyzes scientific data in real time, securely stores information, and ensures stable, uninterrupted communication with INAF’s (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) computing centers in Italy.
INAF (responsible for ASTRI’s development), drawing on experiences gained also in the space sector, faced this challenge by appointing Fulvio Gianotti of the Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio (OAS) in Bologna to coordinate the ICT. Gianotti, together with other INAF colleagues, designed ASTRI’s high-level ICT architecture and oversaw its implementation, entrusted to the Italian company E4 Computer Engineering, winner of the related tender.
Technological and environmental challenges
The design of the ASTRI Mini-Array IT infrastructure proved particularly complex due to the many constraints to be met: «the limited space in the datacenter, the need to reduce power consumption, and the very tight construction schedule forced us to find tailored solutions for each type of processing. We could not adopt a generic infrastructure, but instead modeled the system around the specific requirements of ASTRI’s control software,» says Gianotti.
In addition to technological challenges, there were also environmental ones. The Observatory is located in the Teide National Park, a protected area of great natural value. For this reason, the infrastructure was designed to be as non-invasive as possible and placed, with the support of the IAC (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias – responsible for the Teide Observatory site) and the FGG (Fundación Galileo Galilei – which supports INAF in managing and installing instruments in the Canary Islands), in a small room of the guesthouse, optimized to minimize energy consumption.
Gianotti adds: «Another important aspect was the creation in 2022 of an intermediate IT infrastructure, the so-called mini-ICT, which allowed us to manage the early phases of the project when the full ICT was not yet available,» as we had described in this article.
The key element that made the achievement possible is virtualization. Thanks to the use of cutting-edge IT technologies, ranging from well-known virtual machines to software containers (a kind of “box” or self-standing software unit containing everything needed to run a specific application), it was possible to reduce the number of physical computers and utilize resources efficiently, without compromising system performance, reliability, or availability. The result is an average consumption of just 12 kWh, slightly more than the energy needed to heat an apartment. To achieve this, the team leveraged experience gained from previous space projects carried out by INAF in collaboration with the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), such as the AGILE gamma-ray satellite. The project was implemented with the collaboration of the company E4, which, under INAF supervision, developed high-performance computing solutions to meet ASTRI’s requirements and ensure system reliability, continuity, and sustainability.
Collaboration was crucial for translating scientific requirements into a robust and efficient infrastructure. According to Gianotti, «We found in E4 an industrial partner with the skills and experience needed to face such a complex challenge. The project was carried out professionally and fully met all requirements.»
ASTRI’s experience has also been highlighted by E4 as a success story on its website, where a video retraces the key moments of the ICT infrastructure installation on site.
A model for the future
The course of action taken in the ASTRI project has already yielded significant results and strengthened expertise that extends beyond the project itself. This highly valuable methodological approach will also be applied to the CTAO, the future international gamma-ray Observatory, on a different scale and with greater complexity. «Being selected among the experts tasked with reviewing the CTAO’s ICT infrastructure is, for me, a testament to the quality of the work carried out. The involvement of several other INAF colleagues in these activities is an additional source of satisfaction,» concludes Gianotti.
The ASTRI Mini-Array is therefore not only a scientific challenge but also a testbed for the development and implementation of state-of-the-art technologies and control systems. Similar to other INAF industrial collaborations within the project, the computing system is also a prime example of collaboration between our institute and private industry for the creation of new research infrastructures for Astrophysics.
Notes
ASTRI Mini-Array is an international project led by INAF and supported by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR), with the involvement of international partners such as the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (Spain), the Fundación Galileo Galilei (Italy/Spain), the Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil), North-West University (South Africa), and the Université de Genèva (Switzerland).
The completion of the ASTRI Mini-Array is made possible thanks to collaboration with a number of engineering firms and industries, including (in alphabetical order):
AC3E (Cile), BCV Progetti, Dal Ben spa, CAEN spa, E4 Computer & Engineering spa, EIE GROUP srl, Empresa de Ingegneria Saavedra (Spagna), Hamamatsu Photonics Italia spa, Media Lario srl, Nuclear Instruments srl, WEEROC (Francia), VVD (Spagna), ZAOT srl
This post is also available in: Italian
Credits: E. Cascone
