[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

20030822: Proposed changes to Unidata-Wisconsin datastream



>From: address@hidden
>Organization: MSCD
>Keywords: 200308222150.h7MLo1Ld028281 Unidata-Wisconsin

Hi Tony,

>As one of the community's smaller users, the proposed changes will have
>a significant positive impact on us. Not only do we support all the
>proposed changes, but I have been able to use them as leverage to
>upgrade our server with funds from a Unidata Equipment Grant, upgrade
>the workstations, and upgrade our network connection.

Excellent!

>All this should
>be completed within the next few months, so if the changes go into
>effect prior to the installation of our new server, I would need the
>flexibility to select, as I do now with the pqact file, only those
>products I can store. I assume I'll still be able to do that?

Yes, the product headers will give you the flexibility to request just
the images you want to receive.  The only thing that this will not
allow you to do is continue to get just the section of the GOES-East
images that you are getting now.  If you ask for a particular image,
you will get the entire thing.

The new GOES-East composites will have a spatial domain that goes down
to southern South America regardless of the GOES-12 scanning.  What
this means is that a sizable subset of the GOES-East sectors will have
large sections of no data.  This will mean two things to the end user:

- the images with a lot of blank space will compress extremely well
  so one's network bandwidth will be less affected by the larger
  sector

- data south of approx. 1.5 degrees south will not be there for
  every product; the data for North America will always be there
  and will be at least what you are getting now
  
>Also, thanks for the advice on server specs.

No worries.

>Since the College has a
>purchasing agreement with HP-Compaq and has many of its servers covered
>under a service contract, I'm leaning toward the DL360 (rack mounted,
>dual processor, 1Gb ram, 2x74 Gb SCSI hot swap drives, etc) they
>proposed.

This sounds reasonable.  The real cost of any machine should include
what it takes to support its use.  If Metro has a blanket purchasing
agreement with HP-Compaq, it will be cheaper for you in the long run
to buy their machines, at least, as far as Intel unigs go.

>They say they'll connect my lab to it with a 100 mbit
>connection (1st lab on campus!) to minimize connectivity problems.

Excellent.

>Housing it in the campus server room makes a lot of sense, and I've
>been assured of complete access to it with root privileges.

Even better!

>So, as I say, I'm leaning in that direction, but I'll keep you informed.

I would "fall over" for the HP-Compaq solution given the access, etc. :-)

>Many thanks,

Thanks for the input on the Unidata-Wisconsin stream...

Tom