The DEISA project started as DEISA1 in 2002 developing and supporting a pan-European distributed high performance computing infrastructure.

The initial project was funded by the European Commission in the sixth of the Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development (FP6) from 2004 through 2008.

[6] In a collaborative effort in 2005, a dedicated trusted network connection was established between DEISA and TeraGrid, to implement a combined global file system spanning two continents.

The codes and associated datasets were selected for benchmarking systems with peak performances ranging up to hundreds of teraflops, machines which are more powerful than a desktop personal computer by factors of tens of thousands.

The suite contained codes relevant to astrophysics, fluid dynamics, climate modelling, biosciences, materials science, fusion power and fundamental particle physics.