Wood's Corner—Have Data, Will Travel!
January 8, 2006
MeasureNet’s Web Data Storage System
Did you know that the MeasureNet® data acquisition system allows you to store data on the web? Yes! MeasureNet® makes it possible for your students to upload their experimental data files onto a commercial web server controlled by MeasureNet®. The advantage of this process is that your students can then access (download) their laboratory data at any location in the world where there is a computer connected to the internet. This is a powerful tool that is available for use by you and your students through MeasureNet®.
How does it work? To upload files to the server several requirements must be met. First, obtain space on the server from us, and then designate a department administrator (or class instructor) from your institution to set up the laboratory course on the website. This person will add the students’ names to the course and then add the experiment(s) to be performed. Second, the course and the student list must be downloaded to the laboratory computer connected to the Measurenet® network. Third, the instructor must have enabled “uploading files” on that laboratory computer during the current laboratory session. Finally, the students must be logged on when they actually upload their data sets. Don’t worry, the entire procedure is not as complicated as it sounds. It is described in detail along with pictured examples in the new MeasureNet® User Guide. You can also always contact me or my colleagues for further help.
A general overview: The MeasureNet® web storage system is a complex database application that resides on a commercial network server. It provides for individual password accounts for all of the students in a given laboratory course. The students upload their MeasureNet® data files collected from an experiment through the system's single network computer to the web storage site. The only requirements are that an account for the institution must exist on the web storage site and the computer on each MeasureNet® network must be connected to the internet. If you have multiple networks in your laboratory, the single computer belonging to each network must be internet-connected!
While you do not have to purchase any additional hardware to take advantage of this feature, you do need to have a MeasureNet® administrator create an account on the storage site. Once everything is done, all data will be stored in this account (in addition to being copied to the local hard drive of each network's computer) and will be accessible only to you and your students. Many of our institutions find such post-acquisition data availability a valuable feature that permits greater flexibility in the use of lab time.
To find out more about the web data storage system contact us at MeasureNet® or email me at brooks@MeasureNet-tech.com.
Happy New Year!
Elwood Brooks, Ph.D. is a MeasureNet Senior Applications Specialist still smarting from the Cincinnati Bengals' exclusion from the NFL playoffs. He can be reached at brooks@measurenet-tech.com