Data communications and management of a distributed network of automated data acquisition and analysis systems

Several research applications require the deployment of a distributed network of automated data acquisition and analysis systems. These systems must provide a reliable and robust method of transferring acquired data to an appropriate data center. The data center must be capable of forwarding the acquired data to a potentially large group of researchers. The network's system operators need robust tools that allow them to easily manage and verify the state of health of the individual systems within the data acquisition and analysis network. Research at PNNL on automated radionuclide systems for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has shown that existing Internet protocols and software applications can be leveraged in the deployment of a functioning network of automated data acquisition and analysis systems. Specifically e-mail, FTP, and network news can be used to transmit data, while SNMP based management tools can be used to manage the systems within the network.