Reliable and long-life Operation of the SNS Frontend

The Spallation Neutron Source became in 2007 the brightest pulsed Neutron Source and by now is ~8 times brighter than the second leading pulsed Neutron Source. It took years of learning and understanding issues and find better solutions or work arounds. After an introduction into the workings of the Spallation Neutron Source and its Frontend, we will discuss some of the discoveries made and exploited for the success of SNS, including the record breaking H- beam currents and the record breaking service cycles of the SNS H- ion source.