AliEn: ALICE environment on the GRID

Starting from mid-2008, the ALICE detector at CERN LHC will collect data at a rate of 4PB per year. ALICE will use exclusively distributed Grid resources to store, process and analyse this data. The top-level management of the Grid resources is done through the AliEn (ALICE Environment) system, which is in continuous development since year 2000. AliEn presents several original solutions, which have shown their viability in a number of large exercises of increasing complexity called Data Challenges. This paper describes the AliEn architecture: Job Management, Data Management and UI. The current status of AliEn will be illustrated, as well as the performance of the system during the data challenges. The paper also describes the future AliEn development roadmap.