Data Capacitor
For many years, a key barrier to new scientific knowledge was the difficulty of obtaining data. Now data are routinely produced in great volume, containing the raw material of tremendous scientific advances. Today's challenges are less in generating data than in drawing out even a reasonable measure of the information and meaning these data contain. Three general problems stand out as obstacles in drawing information and creating knowledge from today's large data sets: the need to store data from instruments as rapidly as they can be produced; the need to manage very large data sets for short periods of time; and the need to reliably find and effectively use data available on the Web. The Data Capacitor, recently funded by the National Science Foundation MRI program, will provide a facility that will provide temporary storage of large amounts of data. We also plan to add a Metadata/Web Services server, providing the means by which IU researchers may better publish, find, and utilize data available via the university and national cyberinfrastructure.