Hi Roger,
The speciesLink network makes use of regional servers to mirror data from collections that cannot set up a provider service. Some of them still use dial-up connections for instance. The following diagram is not up-to-date but gives an idea of how many collections are using this approach in the network:
http://splink.cria.org.br/manager/pdf/esquema.pdf
We had to define our own protocol to achieve this. It's based on SOAP and it has limitations such as only handling tabular data, but it does its job. We developed a client software in Java which is installed on providers' machines and has many interesting features. The newest ones include automatic updates of the software, and the possiblity of choosing mapping templates for specific collection management systems.
Best Regards, -- Renato
Hi Everyone,
There is a requirement that all wrapper type applications (TAPIR, DiGIR, BioCASe and others) have but that I don't think we address.
All instances need to have:
Either a database on a server in a DMZ or with an ISP with the ability to export data from the production database to the public database and then keep changes in the production database synchronize with the public database.
Or the ability to provide a secured/restricted connection directly to production database through the firewall.
Configuring the wrapper software against a database seems a smaller problem than getting a handle on an up to date database to configure it against!
Should we have a recommended strategy or best practice for overcoming these problems? Do we have any figures on how they are overcome in the existing BioCASe and DiGIR networks?
Many thanks for your thoughts,
Roger