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CERN’s new data centre at Prévessin, France, adds computing capacity for the laboratory’s worldwide physics programme; it is not an LHCb-only facility. Inaugurated on 23 February 2024, it is designed primarily for physics processing, with a smaller role in business continuity and disaster recovery. CERN’s Meyrin site in Switzerland still houses most of the organisation’s data storage.
What CERN’s new data centre is for
The Prévessin Data Centre supplements CERN’s existing computing infrastructure. Its main role is to host CPU servers that process physics data. It also provides a smaller amount of CPU and storage for business continuity and disaster recovery. CERN describes it as a facility serving the wider scientific community, not a centre dedicated to one experiment.
The building covers more than 6,000 square metres and contains six rooms for IT equipment, each with a cooling capacity of 2 MW, according to CERN’s 2024 announcement. It was built in less than two years. CERN also described a heat-recovery system intended to contribute to heating buildings on the Prévessin site.
How Prévessin relates to Meyrin
The two facilities have complementary roles. Prévessin, in France, adds computing capacity for physics processing and some backup capability. Meyrin, in Switzerland, remains the primary location for most CERN data storage and hosts critical applications. CERN’s June 2026 update describes ongoing work at Meyrin as well as plans to expand Prévessin.
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| Site | Location | Role and status |
|---|---|---|
| Prévessin | France | Opened in 2024; primarily physics-processing capacity, plus a smaller amount of CPU and storage for business continuity and disaster recovery. |
| Meyrin | Switzerland | Houses most CERN data storage and critical applications; upgrades were under way in 2026. |
Why CERN needs more computing
LHC experiments produce far more data than a single building can store or analyse on its own. CERN said in February 2024 that the experiments were producing about 45 petabytes of data per week and expected that volume to double in the High-Luminosity LHC era. In that same 2024 account, CERN described the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) as roughly 170 data centres in more than 40 countries, with about 3 exabytes of storage and one million CPU cores. Those are figures from that dated snapshot, not a current inventory.
CERN’s WLCG overview, accessed in 2026, presents a different snapshot: more than 170 sites in 42 countries, about 1.4 million computer cores and 1.5 exabytes of storage, serving more than 12,000 physicists. It also reports over two million tasks a day and global transfer rates above 260 GB/s at the end of LHC LS2. The figures should not be merged with CERN’s 2024 account, which uses different measures and a different time context. The grid’s distributed design lets researchers move and analyse data across many sites rather than relying on a single data centre.
What this means for LHCb, the “beauty” experiment
LHCb is the Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment, one of the LHC experiments. Its data is handled through CERN computing and distributed grid resources; available descriptions do not specify what proportion of LHCb’s computing or storage is assigned to Prévessin.
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LHCb’s data explanation describes trigger-filtered data being sent to CERN and replicated through a worldwide grid so computers at multiple locations can analyse it. The page illustrates the scale by saying that recording 2,000 events per second would fill 300 CDs of 250 GB each in an hour. That is an outreach illustration, not a current system-wide data rate or a measure of Prévessin’s workload.
Upgrade II is a detector project, not a data-centre expansion
LHCb’s Upgrade II concerns the experiment’s detector. In an April 2025 update, LHCb said CERN’s Research Board had recommended the Middle scenario. That update anticipated technical design reports in 2026, completion of subdetector construction by mid-2032, installation during LS4 in 2034–35, and data-taking at the start of Run 5 in 2036. These were projected milestones as reported in 2025, not confirmation that they have since been completed. The update describes a target physics sample of 300 fb⁻¹; that goal is not a data-centre capacity figure.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Efficiency targets and planned changes
CERN’s 2024 description set a target power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.1 for Prévessin, compared with the worldwide average of 1.6 cited in the same article. It also gave a water usage effectiveness (WUE) target of 0.379 litres per kWh. These are CERN’s stated targets, not independently verified operating results. CERN attributed the WUE target to water recycling. Its design description said cooling would be triggered when the outside temperature reached 20°C, while five fan walls in each room were intended to keep the overall temperature below 32°C.
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As of CERN’s June 2026 update, Prévessin had completed two years of operation and was expected to begin expanding its role as a computing hub and backup site. CERN described future phases that would raise capacity from 4 MW to 12 MW; the 12 MW figure is planned capacity, not a completed expansion. The same update described upcoming heat-recovery activation and cooling improvements intended to reduce water use.
Meyrin’s 2026 upgrade work
CERN reported that targeted reinforcement of raised floors in zones intended for High-Luminosity LHC equipment began in May 2026. A fibre upgrade was due to start in June, and electrical distribution work was due to begin in July. Longer-term plans included dual power feeds, modernised racks, more flexible backup power and exploration of more efficient cooling. These measures relate to Meyrin’s infrastructure and should not be mistaken for work already completed at Prévessin.
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