Harry Enke (AIP, Potsdam, Germany)

Data Management and Publication of Cosmological Simulations

Cosmological simulations which consist of many terabytes of raw data are usually accessible only for a small group of collaborators. The format of the data is nearly as multifaceted as the codes used for their production. To make data more accessible and useable for a big collaboration one must start with the creation of a suitable environment which is tuned to the requirements of data analysis and which allows researchers from all over the world to access the data. The data need a process of verification and curation when preparing for (at least partial) ingestion into a relational database. Using databases opens up new ways of analysis, with data mining methods and tools. The SQL Language formalizes the scientific questions. The creation of the MultiDark Database is an example of a relational database. It gave rise to ideas for improving performance and versatility of the database.