# A Cloud-based architecture for the Cherenkov Telescope Array observation simulations. Optimisation, design, and results

## TL;DR

This paper presents a cloud computing architecture using AWS to significantly accelerate Cherenkov Telescope Array simulations, reducing execution time by over 100 times compared to traditional workstations.

## Contribution

It introduces an innovative cloud-based framework for CTA simulations that optimizes computational efficiency and demonstrates substantial speed improvements.

## Key findings

- Simulations run over 100 times faster on AWS
- Cloud approach reduces CPU time significantly
- Cost-effective for rapid observation analysis

## Abstract

Simulating and analysing detailed observations of astrophysical sources for very high energy (VHE) experiments, like the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), can be a demanding task especially in terms of CPU consumption and required storage. In this context, we propose an innovative cloud computing architecture based on Amazon Web Services (AWS) aiming to decrease the amount of time required to simulate and analyse a given field by distributing the workload and exploiting the large computational power offered by AWS. We detail how the various services offered by the Amazon online platform are jointly used in our architecture and we report a comparison of the execution times required for simulating observations of a test source with the CTA, by a single machine and the cloud-based approach. We find that, by using AWS, we can run our simulations more than 2 orders of magnitude faster than by using a general purpose workstation for the same cost. We suggest to consider this method when observations need to be simulated, analysed, and concluded within short timescales.