Distributed Analysis in ARDA/CMS

The Grid offers physicists far more resources than have previously available by combining elements in computing centers around the world into a globally accessible resource. In order to harness this available computing power many more steps need to be performed to package applications, locate data and control execution. The aim of the ASAP (ARDA Support for CMS Analysis Process) is to make this step as simple and straightforward for physicists on the CMS experiment at CERN. Starting from a local application and a configuration file ASAP can be used to transfer that application to the Grid by creating, submitting and monitoring jobs. One of the main components of this system is that users can delegate responsibility for their tasks to the ASAP Task Manager which can take actions on behalf of the user to ensure that tasks are completed successfully. Upwards of 30 physicists have used the system with 90,000 jobs submitted and 30 million events analysed every month.