September 2006
FAWN News
The AgClimate/FAWN server consolidation is ongoing and the following is a short report to keep you informed of our progress.
All the servers and the majority of the accessory equipment for this project has been purchased and received. The only item remaining may be the purchase of a small rack to house the remote servers.
A pair of primary production servers has been installed in the University's Central Networking Services (CNS) datacenter in Bryant Hall. CNS will install, configure and maintain the operating system and ancillary support software on these servers according to the specifications we have provided them. Once this is complete, we will be able to setup up our websites and databases on those servers. This process has taken a little longer than originally planned but we are still confident of having this completed and the websites and databases residing on the new servers and available on the web before the end of November.
Both AgClimate and FAWN are putting into place software testing and staging servers to ensure all software is developed and tested adequately before being placed in the production environment. An additional server will serve as a concurrent versioning system to allow for source code version tracking and documentation. A GIS server is also planned to allow for ARCGIS development for future applications.
Both FAWN field data collection servers are operational and collecting data. The primary server will reside in the FAWN offices in Gainesville and the backup will reside with the backup web and database servers as outlined in the next paragraph.
A pair of servers for load balancing, failover and backup of the primary systems were purchased and have been received. These servers will be mirror images of the primary servers and we have been working to find a location for them. Placement at a site remote from the Gainesville area is deemed prudent to ensure continued operation of the AgClimate/FAWN websites in the event of a major fault in the primary systems. Public, private and University datacenter sites were considered and inquires made as to the cost for these services. Considering the remote possibility of an outage of the primary systems and the costs involved in co-location at other public or private datacenters, we would recommend these servers be placed in the existing UF/IFAS facilities at either the Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred or the Mid-Florida Research and Education Center in Apopka. Both facilities are centrally located I the peninsula and have existing "server rooms" with the necessary networking and power systems for our purposes (generator backup currently available at MREC and planned for CREC). IFAS IT Network Systems would also desire to place a pair of backup servers for their web and database applications with the AgClimate/FAWN systems at the remote location. An additional T-1 line may need to be installed at the remote site to ensure that enough bandwidth is available for our systems and that bandwidth for current operations at the REC is not adversely affected. We are still in the planning stage for this item so please let us know if you have any recommendations.
The full-time programmer position for FAWN is in the process of getting a position number and advertising should start next week. The shared AgClimate and FAWN programmer position should also be ready for advertising in the next week or two.
Adequate space in the Webb Livestock Pavilion was obtained from IFAS IT to house all the FAWN software development and administration staff and equipment. Thanks Dan Cromer and the IT Business Systems staff for their help and cooperation.
