CNAF [1] is the national center of INFN [2] (Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics) “for the Research and Development in INFN Information and Communication Technologies”. CNAF manages and develops the most important information and data transmission services to support the INFN at a national level.
Since the creation of the distributed computing system on geographical scale known as “Grid”, CNAF is deeply involved in the development and management of Grid middleware and infrastructure in the international framework (Worldwide LHC Computing Grid [3]).
Since 2003, CNAF hosts the Italian Tier-1 for the high-energy physics experiments at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, providing the resources, support and services needed for all the activities of data storage and distribution, data processing, Monte Carlo production and data analysis.
Moreover, CNAF represents a key computing facility for many other astro-particle and neutrino-physics experiments, and one of the most important centers for distributed computing in Italy.