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Jefferson Lab Site Tour

CEBAF Center - Computer Center

CEBAF Center - Computer Center

The experiments that are done at Jefferson Lab create a lot of data. How do scientists sort through this mountain of information? They use computers! The Computer Center makes certain that all of Jefferson Lab's computers are working right. They also store all of the data from the experiments here. The large machine in the middle of the floor is a robot used to change storage tapes. One storage tape can hold as much data as 50,000 floppy disks! It's a good thing that the tapes hold as much as they do - Hall B alone is expected to fill 200 tapes a day! That would fill about a million floppy disks! That's only for one day's data - an experiment could take several months to complete...

This tour reflects Jefferson Lab as it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In particular, this predates the 12 GeV upgrade and the addition of Hall D. For a modern look at the Lab, please see the Jeffeson Lab Virtual Tour.

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For questions about this page, please contact Steve Gagnon.