PHENIX on-line and off-line computing

Data handling in PHENIX is carried out by the On-Line Computing System (ONCS) and Off-Line Computing System (Off-Line). ONCS provides the overall control and monitoring of the front-end electronics, trigger and data acquisition system and detector ancillary systems. It configures and initializes the on-line system, monitors and controls the data flow, coordinates calibration processes, interlocks the data acquisition process with the slow control subsystems and performs a number of other functions. ONCS uses CORBA software to monitor and control the hardware. Off-Line provides all aspects of data handling not directly connected to the collection of data and monitoring, such as event simulation and reconstruction, data analysis and information management. The impact of the unprecedented data volumes on the design is presented, along with a detailed discussion of the tasks and methods of simulating, obtaining and monitoring the data