UPDATE - 18 Oct 2013

Use of MARS1 and MARS2 will be the same for Ngamai as for Solar. The MARS7 development has been postponed until 2014.

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Here is the MARS status and use on Ngamai for the rest of 2013 and into 2014.

There are now two MARS platforms :

• the current IBM system with Operational (MARS1) and Research (MARS2) versions;

• the new Linux based system which is only in Operational ( MARS7OP ) form yet.

The MARS1 and MARS2 systems can now communicate with the new HPC Ngamai (Solar replacement) using scripts in $CWSHARE/scripts/mars.sh on Ngamai.

The new MARS7OP will be communicating with Ngamai very soon now, once final checking is completed, and via the commands in the soon to be released /apps mars and marstools on Ngamai.

There is No communication between the two types of MARS, that is they cannot see each other's catalogs or filesystems.

The MARS7OP system has 40TB of disk, there is No tape attached and tape will become available sometime in 2014, just when is unknown ?

Until tape is attached to MARS7OP its use by Operations will require a backend process of porting data out of MARS7OP to MARS1 to ensure enough disk space remains for use by Ngamai RTO suites. Planning and scripting will be required to automate this porting process and ensure adequate disk space.

There is no Development (Research) version (MARS7DV) of Linux MARS and none expected until sometime in 2014, just when is unknown ?

All Development data will continue to go into the MARS2 until MARS7DV is made available next year.

Once a tape archive is attached to MARS7OP then there will also be a transfer process from MARS1 to MARS7OP to archive Operational data and allow decommissioning of MARS1.

Similarly once MARS7DV is available and attached to the tape archive a similar transfer process of data will be required to allow decommissioning of MARS2.