Space Science and Engineering Center University of Wisconsin-Madison Virtual Machines: A method for distributing DB processing software Liam Gumley

Space Science and Engineering Center University of Wisconsin-Madison What is a Virtual Machine? According to VMware: “A virtualized x86 PC environment on which a guest operating system and associated application software can run.” “Multiple virtual machines can operate on the same host machine concurrently.”

3 Windows XP Linux Virtual Machine SeaDAS

Space Science and Engineering Center University of Wisconsin-Madison The Players VMware, VirtualBox, and Parallels all support Windows, Linux, Mac host operating systems Just about any x86 OS is supported as a guest operating system (as a VM) VirtualBox is free for personal use Note: Virtual PC (Microsoft) only supports Windows hosts and guests

Space Science and Engineering Center University of Wisconsin-Madison Why are VMs relevant to DB? 1.All currently available DB processing packages are supported on Linux, e.g., IMAPP, DBCRAS, DBGE, SPAs, SeaDAS, HDFLook, etc. 2.Many users in DB land are still tied to Windows hosts for processing 3.VMs provide an easy way to provide a “ready to run” DB processing system

Space Science and Engineering Center University of Wisconsin-Madison Typical DB install on Linux 1.Find a new or spare computer 2.Install Linux 3.Download DB software 4.Install DB software 5.Test DB software 6.Set up data ingest 7.Make sure 1-6 are documented and repeatable

Space Science and Engineering Center University of Wisconsin-Madison Typical DB VM install 1.Find a Windows computer 2.Install VMware player (free) 3.Download DB VM zip file 4.Run VMware player

Space Science and Engineering Center University of Wisconsin-Madison Advantages of a DB VM 1.An expert can install and configure Linux and all the necessary applications 2.End user has to invest only a small amount of time 3.The system can be restored to original state very easily (just download the VM zipfile again)

Space Science and Engineering Center University of Wisconsin-Madison VM Features 1.Networking configuration is handled by the host, and via NAT in the VM: If Internet works in the host, it works in the VM 2.VM can share folders with the host: Input files can be dropped in a host directory (e.g., C:\MODIS) 3.VM can be suspended (like closing a laptop)