Much of the media attention given to the particle accelerator experiments that happen at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, is focused on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It’s no surprise, given the LHC is the world’s largest, most complex machine, unravelling some of the toughest scientific problems by accelerating particles (protons or heavy ions) and making them collide in a gigantic 27-kilometer ring. But the work that happens immediately after particles collide in the LHC is not only critical to science, it’s also quite interesting and important from a computing and data processing perspective. After all, the creation of particles or results in the LHC is only significant if scientists can quickly isolate them from millions of inconsequential signals for further study. That means ongoing advancements in trigger and data acquisition systems are essential to fully reaping the rich potential of the LHC. And, as you can imagine, the networking and computing challenges are extreme in nearly every dimension.