Comparison of remote access technologies for research facilities using EPICS/CSS. Application to particle accelerator experiments

• Alternative platforms tested for remote experiment access to EPICS-based facilities. • The EPICS Gateway is strongly recommended for improving remote connection. • Phoebus Web shows the best results for remote visualization when OPIs are adapted. • Apache Guacamole improves remote connections to CSS by enabling web access. This study compares and proposes new alternatives for remotely connecting to visualize the experiments occurring in a particle accelerator located in Rokkasho, Japan. Three different platforms have been considered for remote access: the existing X2GO client, Guacamole with Control System Studio (CSS), and Phoebus web. While X2GO is a standard client for remote access to a server desktop, the other two platforms are proposed to improve the access, the response time, and the user experience for the researchers The servers for this study and the Operator Interfaces (OPIs) have been placed in our laboratory located in Granada, Spain, and the accelerator data, by means of Process Variables (PVs), were obtained via a VPN. Additionally, these platforms have been tested in two ways: with direct access to the PV data for each connection and using a local EPICS (Experimental Physics Industrial Control System) Gateway. The results prove that these new platforms, with a stable connection to the accelerator, could eventually enhance access to the experiments and balance the load of researchers connecting to the facility. This would allow the international team of researchers to participate in experiments as if they were physically in the control room.