INFN CNAF

What INFN CNAF does

INFN CNAF is the national ICT research and development center of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Italy's public research institute for nuclear, particle, and astroparticle physics. Founded in 1962 in Bologna as the Centro Nazionale Analisi Fotogrammi for digitizing bubble-chamber photographic films, the center was reorganized in 1998 into its current mission of advancing distributed computing and networking technologies for physics research. CNAF has hosted the Italian WLCG Tier-1 data center since 2003, one of only eleven Tier-1 sites globally serving CERN's Large Hadron Collider experiments.

The center operates a high-performance computing infrastructure comprising 38,000 CPU cores (~400 kHS06), 139 PB of hierarchical mass storage (41 PB disk, 98 PB tape, 50+ million files), and a network rated at 18 Tbps LAN / 240 Gbps WAN / 1.2 Tb/s data-center interconnect, running 100,000 batch jobs per day at near-100% utilization. CNAF develops and maintains open-source Grid middleware (VOMS, Argus, StoRM, WNoDeS) used across the European Grid Infrastructure, and operates EPIC Cloud — an ISO/IEC 27001, 27017, and 27018 certified cloud service for clinical, biomedical, and genomic data. Its customer base consists of 30+ international physics collaborations (ATLAS, CMS, ALICE, LHCb, Virgo, KM3NeT, JUNO, XENON, DarkSide and others) plus Italian national ICT services for INFN sections.

CNAF is a government state entity funded through the Italian Ministry of University and Research, INFN national budget allocations, and EU research programmes (Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020). It does not generate commercial product revenue; compute, storage, and networking resources are allocated to research collaborations through grant agreements and intergovernmental partnerships. Recent strategic activity has expanded the center's footprint beyond particle physics into biomedical cloud services, EU Open Science Cloud federation, and — via the €5.8M SURE project — physical infrastructure research (superconducting cables) for future AI data centers.

Name

INFN CNAF

Legal name

Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - CNAF (Centro Nazionale per la Ricerca e lo Sviluppo nelle Tecnologie ICT)

Website

https://cnaf.infn.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1962

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

INFN CNAF is the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics' national ICT center in Bologna, operating the Italian WLCG Tier-1 data center and supporting 30+ international physics collaborations with high-performance computing, 139 PB of storage, and Grid middleware.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scientific Computing Infrastructure

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Computer Facilities Management Services (541513), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Electronic Computers (3571), Computer Storage Devices (3572)

akta.pro primary industry

Network Hardware Components (ASICs/NICs/Transceivers) (HDABAFAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Storage Networking (Fibre Channel, iSCSI, NVMe-oF) (HDABAEAG), High-Performance Networking Adapters (InfiniBand/RDMA/Ultra-Low Latency) (HDAFAEAD), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (HDABAHAH), AI Interconnects & Fabric (NVLink/CXL/PCIe/Switches) (HDAAAAAD)

Keywords

• Scientific computing infrastructure
• Distributed grid computing
• Research data storage
• High performance networking
• Tier-1 data center

Headquarters

HQ city

Roma

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Government Research Funding: CNAF operates as a national research infrastructure funded primarily through the Italian Ministry of University and Research, INFN national budget allocations, and EU research project funding (Horizon Europe, Horizon 2020). Revenue comes from research grants, project funding, and national service agreements rather than commercial product revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

INFN CNAF operates the Italian Tier-1 data center of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid, delivering high-throughput distributed computing, hierarchical mass storage, and high-performance networking infrastructure for particle physics, astroparticle physics, neutrino, and nuclear physics experiments. It develops and maintains open Grid middleware components (VOMS, Argus, StoRM, WNoDeS) and runs EPIC Cloud, a privacy- and compliance-certified cloud service for biomedical and genomic workloads.

Product overview

INFN-CNAF is the national computing and networking technology center of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics. It operates as a major research computing infrastructure rather than a traditional product company. The core offering is the WLCG Tier-1 Data Center providing distributed computing and storage services for particle physics experiments. CNAF develops and maintains middleware products including VOMS (Virtual Organization Membership Service) for Grid authorization, Argus for XACML-based authorization, and StoRM (Storage Resource Manager) for SRM-based storage management. Additional offerings include EPIC Cloud - a privacy and compliance-certified cloud service for biomedical data, supported by a high-performance network infrastructure with 18 Tbps LAN capacity. The center provides computing farm resources of 38,000 cores and hierarchical data storage managing tens of petabytes across disk and tape systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EPIC Cloud: Enhanced PrIvacy and Compliance Cloud - cloud service developed and managed by CNAF for projects and experiments studying clinical, biomedical and genomic data. Certified according to ISO/IEC 27001:2013, ISO/IEC 27017:2015 and ISO/IEC 27018:2017.

Products and services

• WLCG Tier-1 Data Center
• CNAF Computing Farm
• Data Storage System
• High-Performance Network Infrastructure
• EPIC Cloud
• VOMS (Virtual Organization Membership Service)
• Argus Authorization Service
• StoRM (STOrage Resource Manager)
• WNoDeS
• INDIGO-DataCloud

Quantifiable outcome

• 38,000 CPU cores available for scientific computing with ~400 kHS06 performance
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and regional.

• ASG SuperconductorscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 July 2026Collaboration on the SURE project developing magnesium diboride (MgB₂) superconducting cables for AI-driven data centers. ASG Superconductors brings expertise in superconducting magnet technology developed through CERN HiLumi-LHC programme. The project aims to build a 50-metre prototype cable capable of carrying 1,500 A at 400 V by 2031, reducing cooling costs by more than ten times.
• INFN Bellotti Ion Beam FacilitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026Research collaboration on nuclear astrophysics experiments studying the 22Ne(alpha,n)25Mg reaction, a key neutron source for heavy element synthesis in stars through the s-process. Part of the ERC-funded SHADES project focusing on energy measurements below 700 keV.
• CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost institution of the Large Hadron Collider experiments. CNAF participates in the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) as an official Tier-1 computing center since 2003. Connected via dedicated LHCOPN network links.
• CINECAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerItalian supercomputing consortium operating PRACE Tier-0 resources. CNAF rents computing nodes from CINECA with 400 Gbit connectivity. Implemented 1.2 Tb/s DCI link between facilities, extending CNAF LAN to CINECA.
• EGI (European Grid Infrastructure)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCNAF coordinates the Italian National Grid Initiative (NGI) and operates central Grid services as a member of the EGI project. Provides distributed computing infrastructure across European research communities.
• GARR (Italian Research Network)coreTechnology or IntegrationNational research and education network provider. Supplies CNAF's geographic connectivity including 2x100 Gbps links to LHCOPN/LHCONE networks, 2x10 Gbps general internet links, and 20 Gbps connection to INFN Bari center.
• WLCG (Worldwide LHC Computing Grid)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational computing Grid collaboration providing resources for the LHC experiments. CNAF is one of eleven global Tier-1 centers, providing storage, processing, and data distribution services for ATLAS, CMS, ALICE, and LHCb experiments.
• INDIGO-DataCloud ConsortiummajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean cloud and data infrastructure project led by CNAF. Developed middleware and solutions enabling research teams across Europe to use public and private cloud resources for Physics, Biology, Astronomy, Medicine, and other disciplines.
• ESCAPE (European Science Cluster of Astronomy & Particle Physics)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerH2020 project addressing astronomy, particle physics, and accelerator physics communities. CNAF participates in developing solutions for data-intensive science and European Open Science Cloud.
• EOSC-hub / EOSC-FuturemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean Open Science Cloud initiatives bringing together providers and communities to create a hub for European researchers. CNAF contributes computing infrastructure and services.
• TTLab (Technology Transfer Laboratory)regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustrial research laboratory of INFN in Emilia Romagna, gathering multidisciplinary competencies from INFN sites in Bologna, Ferrara, and CNAF to promote technology transfer to regional industry. Accredited in the Emilia Romagna High Technology Network.
• INFN National Laboratories of FrascaticoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the SURE project and hosts the INFN Informative System. Collaboration on distributed computing and data management for nuclear physics research.
• Alleanza Contro il Cancro (Alliance Against Cancer)regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for personalized oncology research, contributing to the National Precision Oncology Program. CNAF provides computing resources for cancer research data analysis.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CINECA: Italian inter-university supercomputing consortium operating PRACE Tier-0 HPC resources. Directly comparable as a national scientific computing center in Italy, with an established 1.2 Tb/s DCI link to CNAF and shared Tier-1/Tier-0 mission alignment.
• STFC Scientific Computing (RAL Tier-1): UK Tier-1 WLCG center operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Direct peer in the same WLCG Tier-1 federation, serving identical LHC experiments with comparable scope and governance.
• DESY (National Analysis Facility / WLCG Tier-1): German Tier-1 WLCG center at DESY in Hamburg. Direct peer providing compute and storage for ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, and other experiments, with comparable scale and public funding model.
• Brookhaven National Laboratory (US Tier-1): US WLCG Tier-1 center supporting ATLAS and other experiments. Direct peer in the global WLCG federation with comparable Tier-1 scale, mission, and reliance on national-government research funding.
• PIC (Port d'Informació Científica): Spanish Tier-1/Tier-2 WLCG center operated as a consortium of Catalan and Spanish institutions. Direct peer for LHC computing and storage workloads, similar in scale and structure to CNAF as a national Grid computing hub.
• IN2P3 Computing Centre (CNRS): French national computing center for IN2P3 (particle and nuclear physics) at CNRS. Direct peer providing Tier-1-equivalent compute/storage for the French physics community and participating in WLCG.
• KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) SCC: German Tier-1 WLCG computing center operated by KIT's Steinbuch Centre for Computing. Direct peer in the WLCG federation supporting CMS and other LHC experiments, with comparable public-funding and university-affiliated governance.

Broad incumbents

• CERN: European Organization for Nuclear Research and the host laboratory of the LHC. Although not a Tier-1 itself, CERN operates the Tier-0 source data center and orchestrates WLCG, making it the strategic parent of CNAF's Tier-1 mission and the closest incumbent peer.

Others

• EGI Foundation: Federated e-infrastructure consortium coordinating distributed computing across European research communities. CNAF is an active member coordinating the Italian National Grid Initiative; EGI is a peer ecosystem coordinator rather than a direct compute competitor.

Regional players

• ASGC (Academia Sinica Grid Computing): Taiwanese WLCG Tier-1 center providing compute and storage for LHC experiments in the Asia-Pacific region. Comparable Tier-1 scope and WLCG role, but geographically separated and serves different regional collaborators.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about INFN CNAF