>From: "Michael Trapasso" <address@hidden> >Organization: Western Kentucky University >Keywords: 199903261750.KAA00325 OS/2 to Unix transition Michael- > Once again the technological world advances ... which means I lose > information! :) > > Of course I'm refering to the loss of the McIDAS OS-2 capability > planned for this July. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to > write another NSF Grant Proposal! :) > > Keeping in mind that we are a relatively small operation here at WKU, > what system would you recommend we upgrade to. Or at least what are > my options? If you want to keep running Unidata software, you will have to move to some flavor of Unix. The cheapest option is to run a version that we support on PC's - either Red Hat Linux, or Solaris for Intel. You should check with your computer people to see which operating system (if either) they support. For a system to ingest and display data, you will need a minimum of a 300 MHz system with at least 128 MB of memory and a large (9 GB or larger) hard drive. For a display system only, you could get away with 64 Mb of memory and a smaller hard drive, but more memory is better. Make sure the components you get are compatible with the operating system. Once you decide on an operating system, you can check the maker's web pages for compatible hardware. As for the Unidata software you want to use, you have a couple of options. First, to receive data, you would need to install the LDM software which would provide you with access to a data feed (like you have in McIDAS-OS2 now). As for display software, you could use McIDAS-X (the Unix version of McIDAS) which has an interface which is very similar to McIDAS-OS2. That would require the shortest learning curve. Tom is working on a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to make accessing and displaying data easier than using the command line or the F-Key menu. Your other option is use GEMPAK/NAWIPS which provides several GUI's (NWX, GARP) that many smaller schools have found very useful for quick access and display of data. There would be a bit of a learning curve because it is new software, but the interfaces are pretty intuitive and easy to figure out quickly. If you decide to go to McIDAS-X, one thing to note is that McIDAS is implementing a distributed access system called the Abstract Data Distribution System (ADDE). This allows you to connect to remote servers for your data instead of having to ingest it yourself. There are several Unidata McIDAS sites that are running ADDE servers and you might be able to have one of them serve up data to you instead of running the LDM and ingesting it yourself. The main drawback to this route now is that the GUI and F-Key menu available in McIDAS 7.5 are not completely using ADDE commands yet. However, that is high on Tom's list of enhancements and the 7.6 version due out this summer will probably mostly use ADDE. Many of the options in the McIDAS-OS2 7.5 F-Key menu use ADDE commands now. > I'll discuss this upgrade with our computer support people, and then > I'll follow up by asking for recommendations for specific components, > and exactly what I need to request from NSF. Find out what they support and if you have any questions on machine specs, let us know. It might also be useful to find out how much of McIDAS you use so we could get a better feel for what might suit your needs. Do you use it every day/semester in class? Do the students use it? What particular functions do you use? As said before, if you have any more questions about this transition, let us know. Don Murray
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