A lightweight analysis farm for fundamental physics experiments

¹ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, 76131, Germany
² Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
³ LPNHE, Sorbonne Université, Paris, 75252, France

Published online: 7 October 2025

Abstract

Scientific collaborations require a strong computing infrastructure to successfully process and analyze data. While large-scale collaborations have access to resources such as Analysis Facilities, small-scale collaborations often lack the resources to establish and maintain such an infrastructure and instead operate with fragmented analysis environments, resulting in inefficiencies, hindering reproducibility and thus creating additional challenges for the collaboration that are not related to the experiment itself. We present a scalable, lightweight and maintainable Analysis Facility developed for the DARWIN collaboration as an example case study. Grid computing and storage resources are integrated into the facility, allowing for distributed computing and a common entry point for storage. The authentication and authorization infrastructure for all services is token-based, using an Indigo IAM instance. We discuss the architecture of the facility, its provided services, the user experience, and how it can serve as a sustainable blueprint for small-scale collaborations.