Discussion

INSIDE Idaho Server Configuration

The Interactive Numeric & Spatial Information Data Engine (INSIDE) web-system is a robust three tier platform that was built for the INSIDE Idaho project.  The servers are optimized to provide high-availability and high-throughput access to large geospatial data sets. 

High-availability

The INSIDE server platform is built from a DELL 2550, DELL 2850, and a DELL 1850 rack-mount servers running Windows 2003.  Redundant, hot-swappable power supplies, fans and hardware controlled RAID 5 data drive arrays and RAID 1 system/boot partitions are employed.  The servers use ECC (error correcting) memory and multiple CPU’s which provide redundancy in the event of a CPU failure. Power is supplied by two rack-mounted APC UPS that can run the site for approximately 20 minutes; long enough for a graceful automatic shutdown. In the event that catastrophic failure occurs, backups are maintained via network attached storage an external hard drive. INSIDE exists on a dedicated virtual LAN (VLAN) behind a an enterprise firewall in the University of Idaho network

High-throughput

Each server has multiple processors and at least 4 GB or RAM.  The data server connects to a 5 TB RAID 5 INLINE drive array. Intra site communication (between the three servers) uses a dedicated 1000 Mbps (GIGABIT) switch.  Each server also has an external, 1000 Mbps connection directly to a Cisco enterprise switch that sits on the UI fiber backbone is one hop away from the UI Internet 2 connection (2.4 Gbps OC-48).

Expandability

The INSIDE site currently has 5 TB of available drive space.  Since INSIDE utilizes a totally modular architecture, additional servers and drive arrays can easily be added for unlimited growth.