The EDRN Resource Network Exchange (ERNE) consists of a central query server (run at EDRN's Data Management and Coordinating Center) that in turn sends specimen queries to each participating site's product server.

Note that the ERNE product server may run separately or on the same system as your current specimen database. The product server accepts queries for specimens and converts them in real-time into queries for your database, and expresses the results of those queries in the ERNE common data elements. How you choose to deploy the product server (on a separate system or co-located on the same system as your specimen database) is up to you.

While the product server runs on a variety of platforms and operating systems, this page details our recommended system configurations, should you wish to deploy a new, separate system to run the it. It can successfully run on desktop-class hardware (and indeed, any system capable of running Java 1.4 programs), yet for ease of management and reliability, we recommend server-class systems instead.

Hardware Configurations

This section lists our recommended and preferred hardware and operating system configurations for running an ERNE product server. These platforms are all server-class systems; for lower cost alternatives, see below.

Apple Xserve

The preferred configuration is an Intel-based Apple Xserve running Mac OS X. The ERNE product server takes advantage of advanced Mach-based features of this operating system. The following list details the setup:

• Apple Xserve 1U rackmount
• Dual 64-bit 2.0GHz Intel Xeon "Woodcrest" processors
• 1GB 667MHz DDR2 ECC memory
• 80GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive
• Combo optical drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• No graphics
• Mac OS X Server

RAID and hot-swappable power supplies are not necessary, but you may wish to add them for fault tolerance, as well as sliding rails and parts kit.

Dell PowerEdge SC1425

The ERNE product server also runs well on the PC architecture with the Linux operating system. Although a variety of Intel-based PC architecture options exist, we recommend the Dell PowerEdge SC1452. The following list details the setup:

• PowerEdge SC1425 1U rackmount
• One 64-bit 2.8GHz Intel Xeon "Woodcrest" processor
• 2GB 400MHz memory
• 80GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive
• DVD drive
• No keyboard or mouse
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

RAID and hot-swappable power supplies are not necessary, but you may wish to add them for fault tolerance, as well as sliding rails and parts kit.

Dell PowerEdge SC1425 running Windows

The ERNE product server can run under the Windows operating system. However, we recommend both adding an additional processor and increasing the memory size if it is necessary to run Windows. The following list details the setup:

• PowerEdge SC1425 1U rackmount
• Two 64-bit 2.8GHz Intel Xeon "Woodcrest" processor
• 4GB 400MHz memory
• 80GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive
• DVD drive
• No keyboard or mouse
• Windows Server 2003

In addition, we strenuously recommend anti-virus software if you run Windows.

Sun Fire X4100 M2

The ERNE product server runs on Solaris Unix as well. We recommend the following configuration:

• Sun Fire X4100 M2 1U rackmount
• Dual AMD 2210 processors
• 2GB 667MHz DDR2 memory
• 73GB SAS hard drive
• Solaris 10

RAID and hot-swappable power supplies are not necessary, but you may wish to add them for fault tolerance, as well as sliding rails and system management software.

Desktop Class Systems

If server-class hardware is cost-prohibitive, you may wish to take advantage of desktop-class hardware instead. These systems may not have the reliability and performance features of the above listed systems, but they are certainly capable of running the ERNE product server.

This section details our recommended desktop-class systems.

Apple Mac mini

The Apple Mac mini running Mac OS X is a low-cost way to run the preferred operating system platform for the product server. We recommend the the 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo model with 1GB of memory and 60GB hard drive.

Dell Dimension E521

For a Linux-based system, we recommend the Dell Dimension E521 with an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor, SUSE Linux, 1GB memory, and 80GB hard drive.

If you must run Windows, we recommend increasing the memory to 2GB and the installation of anti-virus software.

Network Configurations

The ERNE query server sends queries and administrative commands to each ERNE product server running at participating ERNE sites. Therefore, the system on which you deploy the product server must be accessible on the public Internet, and any firewall (whether local, institutional, or otherwise) must pass certain traffic from the EDRN Data Manangement and Coordinating Center.

The following firewall exceptions must be in place in order to run the product server:

• Incoming TCP connections from ginger.fhcrc.org to port 7576 (administrative commands)
• Incoming TCP connections from ginger.fhcrc.org to port 7577 (specimen queries)

The ERNE product server initiates no outgoing connections.