Re: Repository services and budget

[Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com>]

David and All,

davidk@ISI.EDU wrote:
> 
> Dave,
> 
> > Dave Crocker writes :
> >

> >
> >       It can be VERY easy to inflate the requirements for the repository.
> > I'm suggesting that it be kept as lean as is feasible.
> 
> I support the idea to keep everything as lean as feasible. But I don't
> think that it is a good idea to save the money on personnel. I found from
> my experience with running the RIPE database that it was of tremendous
> value to have a 'secretarial-type/catch all' person in the office
> (parttime is fine). Good personnel can save you more money by choosing a
> cheap location (if that is needed at all ;-)) and reliable but cheap
> computer equipment.

  I have found that reliable and cheap rarely go together.  In this
world,
you get what you pay for, pretty much.
> 
> A 'catch all' type of person is very important during the start-up phase
> when it is best to work with a small team of engineers to set the thing
> up and you don't want to be bothered with all kind of questions that
> delay the deployment or distract from the technical work. Also, such a
> person is very valuable for informing the user community when there is a
> problem as well as help with other unexpected things like getting a spare
> part that is needed quickly or the like. We want to start up the shared
> registry system as fast as possible and solve operational problems when
> the repository is in full operation as quickly as possible. It's probably
> worth it to spend some money to assist in that.
> 
> And then for the hardware: hardware costs should be kept as low as
> possible. Qualified personnel will be able to find cheap and reliable
> equipment (that can certainly mean PCs). The equipment needed will depend
> on how one chooses to design the software and which data will be
> represented. Qualified personnel will be able to make a good design that
> will need a minimal of system resources. In any case, the hardware will
> be (and should be) much cheaper then the personnel costs. Having a RAID
> array or not is not such an interesting discussion. You will need at most
> two of them and qualified personnel will be able to find an array that is
> much cheaper then their own yearly cost and that is not that much more
> expensive then a couple of good quality harddisks.

  Might I suggest a Clarion Raid system.  Best performance for the
money.
> 
> I feel that it is probably best to do an educated guess for the hardware
> budget ($120,000.-) and to spend some more time on the most costly part
> of the budget:
> 
> personnel costs
> 
> In addition to this, I feel that it was a very good suggestion to split
> up the budget in setup costs and operational costs after setup. The IAHC
> might even want to consider if they are able to get some grants/sponsors
> for the setup costs.

  I have already offered my company and some setup costs donations.  In
additoin some of the software.  So I don't see any problems here.

  It is also possible to get donations from all sorts of sources.
I soubt that you will need to spend any money on hardware at all.
> 
> David K.
> ---

Regards,
-- 
Jeffrey A. Williams
DIR. Internet Network Eng/SR. Java Development Eng.
Information Eng. Group. 
Phone :972-447-1878
E-Mail jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com