Speaker
Description
The KEK Central Computer System (KEKCC) is the largest-scale computing system at KEK, providing essential services such as Grid, Cloud, and high-performance data storage for various scientific experiments. Operating under a four-year lease, the current generation of KEKCC started production in September 2024. Now entering its third year of operation, the system continues to deliver stable computing services, maintaining a steady CPU utilisation rate of around 80%.
Since the core system hardware remains unchanged during this contract period, our recent efforts have focused on service modernisation, security enhancements, and infrastructure updates. In this presentation, we will review the operational status of the KEKCC and report on the key progress made since the last AFAD meeting in 2025, held in Sendai, Japan.
A major highlight of our recent work is the modernisation of our software and authentication infrastructure. We will discuss the ongoing migration of our Grid services from RHEL 7 to RHEL 9 and the transition from X.509/VOMS to JWT/IAM. In preparation for the global phase-out of X.509/VOMS scheduled for Q1 in 2028, we are actively evaluating token-based authentication workflows. We will share the results of our data transfer performance tests using tokens across FTS and StoRM. Furthermore, we will report on the shutdown of the legacy KEK Grid CA after 20 years of operation and the launch of our new SHA-2 compliant CA service in September 2025.
Lastly, we will present updates on our international and domestic network infrastructure and data transfer initiatives. This includes the hardware replacement of the KEK campus network conducted in the summer of 2025—which refreshed the internal infrastructure without altering the total external bandwidth or routing—and the recent handover of the Tokyo-HKIX international link (primarily serving east Asian institutes such as IHEP) from JGN to APAN-JP. Furthermore, as a major upcoming milestone, we will report on our preparation status for the Belle II Data Challenge 2027, which is planned to be conducted in coordination with the WLCG Data Challenge 2027. Through these updates, we will share our operational experiences and plans for the system's remaining lifecycle.