The Big Data Science Center at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility: the architecture of the superfacility

In the context of the global big data deluge, concerted efforts are being made to address the challenges faced by large scientific facilities. These efforts are focused on providing users with the full potential offered by real-time, remote and self-driving experiments, where AI-driven analysis can guide experimental decisions in real time, while ensuring that the data pipelines adhere to the findability, accessibility, interoperability and reuse principles throughout their entire facility lifecycle. Besides all the efforts being made, a user-centric and user-friendly centralization of the overall scientific computing framework at the large scientific facilities remains a work in progress. To address this challenge the Big Data Science Center at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility has developed and deployed a centralized, cohesive and user-friendly platform on top of its already existing superfacility framework, which is designed to manage the complete data lifecycle at large scientific facilities. This user-centric platform has transformed the user experience, shifting focus from complex data operations to scientific interpretation. Consequently, the accessibility of the facility to users has been considerably enhanced, thereby expediting the pace at which their discoveries are made.