We look at the tech inside...
John Gordon deputy director of the CCLRC e-Science Centre at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory checks that the grid is running well.
Photo: Steve Ranger
This robot hand, part of a tape library, is used by researchers to retrieve the data needed to test their physics theories.
Photo: Steve Ranger
The library contains 600 tapes which will hold data from the CERN experiment when it is up and running. When researchers request a particular file the robot hand will locate the right tape.
Photo: Steve Ranger
And deliver the tape so that the files can be read.
Photo: Steve Ranger