In the previous sections, we have presented the state of the art design for the SMA Astronomical Data Archive and Storage System. The software server architecture has been configured. Individual software components have been developed and tested for the prototype model except for the Sybase replication server. We strongly recommend incorporating the Sybase replication server into this system. We plan to implement this system with the replication server in our next software upgrade. Although the prototype system has been tested and shows a good performance, this system needs to be continually supported at both system and astronomy/programming levels for software upgrading and integration.
In order to keep the SMA visibility data on line, the hardware becomes a critical issue. We have started an investigation for hardware devices to identify and construct a mass data storage system for the SMA project. Based on our investigation, either DLT library or DVD-R juke box is recommended as our preferred choices among the mass storage devices on the current market. Both systems can handle several TBytes of data on line based on their current capacity. We will continue our investigation of the mass storage hardware on the market as well as the the actual application at other astronomical institutions before a final decision is made.
Acknowledgement
We are grateful to Ken Harbour (Taco) Young for his detailed comments on this memo. we also thank other SMA staffs for their helpful comments and discussions.