The Control Unit of KM3NeT detectors

The KM3NeT Collaboration has developed a flexible software suite named Control Unit to control and manage its neutrino detectors in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as all the benches where the DAQ hardware is integrated and tested. The Control Unit is highly modular and can work with or without direct coupling to the central database system. In order to ensure highest availability, maximum detector livetime and trouble isolation (no “single-point-of-failure”), the Control Unit is built of disconnected services which can individually continue operation even if others are temporarily missing. In case of hardware failure of one or more of the hosting computers, the Control Unit is able to automatically reconfigure itself and triggering/postprocessing resources to minimize the downtime to few seconds without any human intervention. This mitigates the data loss in case of overlap of failures with transient neutrino emission phenomena. In-house developed, high-performance web-based interfaces for humans as well as for machines allow easy integration of the Control Unit with monitoring tools. A user-friendly job system allows easy planning and management of data-taking campaigns.