Hardware System

DCU has maintained a powerful, state-of-the-art system infrastructure. The infrastructure consists of a secure communication network (LAN), a series of servers, and back-up devices for both internal and external users. To satisfy more sophisticated requirements and higher security standards, DCU invests resources and efforts to update the redundant information infrastructure, incluing DCU network servers and end-user systems.

The challenge in clinical trials research is to design a high-performance, mission-critical, and fault-tolerant system. Because of the importance of clinical trial data, keeping a clinical trial data management system up at all times is one of our highest priorities. Thus DCU has introduced redundant components, alternative power sources and multiple backup systems.

The computer hardware at DCU consists of Dell PowerEdge servers running Windows Server 2000/2003 for all internal data. Each server utilizes Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) hard drive configurations to provide data safety, increased performace and fault-tolerance over using drives singularly. The DCU also has a UPS(Uninterruptible Power Supply) device, which keeps our servers and websites running and enables our system to save data automatically in the event of a power failure.

The Disaster Recovery Plan requires that daily backups are performed and archived tapes are stored in an offsite location. The Disaster Recovery Plan is tested on an annual basis to ensure its timely success if implemented. The database and web system architecture is scalable and system resources are measured against utilization to ensure top performance.

DCU’s System Configurations
	Web Service	Database Service
Primary Systems	Web Server 1 Dell PowerEdge 1850 w/RAID Controller 2x Intel® Xeon 3.0 GHz, 2 GB RAM   Web Server 2 Dell PowerEdge 1950 w/RAID Controller 2x Intel® Quad Core Xeon 1.6 GHz 4 GB RAM, 300 GB SCSI Hard Drives	DB Server 1 Dell PowerEdge 2650 w/RAID Controller 2x Intel® Xeon 3.0 GHz, 4 GB RAM   DB Server 2 Dell PowerEdge 2950 w/RAID Controller 2x Intel® Quad Core Xeon 1.6 GHz 8 GB RAM, 300 GB SCSI Hard Drives
Secondary Systems	Web Server 3 Dell PowerEdge 1400	DB Server 3 Dell PowerEdge 6400
	Dedicated Servers to Specific Studies NIDA Clinical Trial Network Server: Dell PowerEdge 4400 EXCEED Clinical Trial Network Server: Dell PowerEdge 2500
Support Systems	NT Backup Device: Dell PowerVault 132T    File Storage: Dell PowerVault 220s * 2    Battery Backup System: APC Smart-Ups 3000/1500    Active Directory Domain Controller: Dell PowerEdge 2650    File Server: Dell PowerEdge 2300