[LDM #YXL-147160]: Purchasing an LDM Server

Hi Steve,

re:
> Here at Rutgers we are about to purchase a new server to run the LDM on.  We'd
> like to ingest as much IDD data as possible.  My understanding is that we will
> want as much RAM as possible and the biggest, fastest, local disk possible (or
> is NAS OK for saving decoded products?).  Is this correct?

It all depends on the full list of tasks you will be using your machine
for.  For instance, if the machine's job is to relay the IDD data to
other machines for processing, then it can be quite modestly configured.
If, on the other hand, you plan on running a full suite of filing, decoding,
data serving and storage operations (like keeping your own rolling archive)
then the machine will need to be quite a bit beefier.

re:
> Are there any other
> considerations I should pass on to my IT guys as they get quotes?

I think that the first thing is to decide on the full range of operations
that you plan on running on the machine.

If you are planning for the machine to be doing lots of varied activities,
then we would suggest a machine along the lines of one that UMiami purchased
a couple of years ago:

- dual quad core CPU Xeon
- 128 MB RAM
- 100 TB HDD

This machines ingests all of the data flowing in the IDD, decodes
as much as possible into both GEMPAK and McIDAS-compatible formats,
runs both THREDDS and ADDE servers and RAMADDA, and keeps a large
rolling archive of the data that it receives and processes.  It
is, in fact, a motherlode clone that is open to the Unidata community
for the data it serves.

I can send you a few more specifics on the UMiami machine, but it
is likely that current offerings have equal or better specs for
the same amount of money (which was ~$15K) or less.

re:
> Thanks,

No worries.

Cheers,

Tom
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Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: YXL-147160
Department: Support LDM
Priority: Normal
Status: Closed