technology support: using your own software:
Researchers are encouraged to contact Xlab Systems Administrator Lawrence Sweet <sweet@haas.berkeley.edu> to discuss specific technology services HCS can offer. If you want to use your own software, here's what you need to know:
Preparation Timeframe: Although it may be possible to obtain CPHS approval quickly, it requires systems administrator time to prepare the hardware and software for deployment. We require a minimum of two weeks advance preparation time for scheduled experiments. Please submit your program executables and documentation to Xlab Systems Administrator Lawrence Sweet <sweet@haas.berkeley.edu> well in advance of any lab session. We will pretest your software in expectation of future experiments even though you have not formally scheduled sessions with us. However, please do not submit beta software. We will only work with production releases.
Software Design Requirements: If your software expects an uninterrupted ethernet connection and makes no allowances for timeouts and retries, you will be at risk for potential failures that could disrupt your experiment.
Installation Instructions: You will be required to provide clear and comprehensive installation documentation in addition to executables (compiled binaries only; Xlab will not accept software that requires compiling source code.) Xlab will install and test your software, and may decline to accept your experiment if the software does not install or run properly. For example, we would ask that you provide us with a technical description of the files you provide for installation, their relationships and dependencies, installed file size, sample of what the collected data file looks like, and datafile pathname on the server. This requirement is especially important if your software requires a webserver frontend or a mySQL database backend.
References: Any technical report(s), URLs, or other resources that we could look at as background material would be appreciated.
Open source: If you are willing to donate your software and documentation to the Xlab's open source library, we ask that you let us know. |
