Speaker
Description
The WLCG Data Challenge 2027 (DC27) represents a critical milestone in preparing our global distributed computing and networking infrastructure for the demands of HL-LHC and next-generation data-intensive experiments. Building on the successes and lessons learned from previous challenges, the DC27 program is driven by a coordinated series of mini-capability and mini-capacity challenges. These targeted tests address key aspects such as site network validation, end-to-end monitoring, protocol innovations, and performance scaling across Tier-1 and Tier-2 sites worldwide.
This presentation summarizes the work carried out in preparation for the challenge including results from recent mini-challenges, improvement of the monitoring with upgrades of the perfSONAR infrastructure, the implementation of flow and packet marking, packet pacing, and SDN (Software Defined Networking) integration. Notable achievements include improved network validation across major WLCG sites, successful deployment of advanced monitoring and accounting tools, and collaborative stress tests involving multiple science domains. We highlight the strategic value of incremental "unit tests" and cross-domain mini-challenges in isolating issues and accelerating readiness.
Looking forward, we present the roadmap toward DC27, detailing planned milestones for further hardware and software upgrades, broader adoption of IPv6 and SDN technologies, and expanded collaborative testing with emerging experiments such as DUNE and SKA. We also outline our approach to capacity scaling, site readiness evaluation, and systematic benchmarking against production workloads.
DC27 will serve as a showcase for best practices in orchestrating complex, multi-site data movement, robust monitoring, and agile adaptation to evolving research needs. This talk provides a compelling overview for the CHEP community, demonstrating the collective progress, challenges overcome, and the vision for sustaining leadership in distributed scientific computing.