Minicomputer Upgrade for the Clinical Resarch Database

这项申请是为购买支持纪念斯隆-凯特琳癌症中心机构临床研究数据库(CRDB)的计算机硬件而申请的。CRDB是一个内部开发的关系型数据库，用于支持该中心广泛的临床研究计划的数据库管理需求。CRDB是一种共享资源，目前服务于109个由NIH资助的赠款，其中10个是计划项目或孢子奖。该数据库正在不断开发中，并由数据库管理员、计算机程序员和经验丰富的数据经理组成的团队进行维护。开发CRDB的项目是在1991年使用一组VAX小型机启动的，但在1996年，我们成功地完成了共享仪器拨款，将硬件升级到两台数字Alpha服务器的集群。自那时以来，数据库的使用大大扩大，系统上的研究方案数量从685个增加到2811个。大约162,000名患者的研究记录现在存储在数据库中。因此，用户开始遇到性能困难，我们预计这些问题将在未来12个月内急剧增加，需要在2002年初进行一次重大的硬件升级。这项提议要求资金再次升级硬件平台，以在这些迅速增长的需求面前保持系统的性能。

This application is for funds to purchase computer hardware that will support Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's institutional Clinical Research Database (CRDB). The CRDB is a relational database that was developed in-house to support the database management needs of the extensive clinical research program at the Center. The CRDB is a shared resource that currently serves the needs of 109 funded NIH grants, of which 10 are program projects or SPORE awards. The database is under continual development, and is maintained by a team of database administrators, computer programmers, and experienced data managers. The project to develop CRDB was initiated in 1991 using a cluster of VAX minicomputers, but in 1996 we successfully completed for a Shared Instrumentation Grant to upgrade the hardware to a cluster of two Digital Alpha servers. Since that time, the utilization of the database has greatly expanded, with the number of research protocols locate don the system increasing from 685 to 2811. Research records of approximately 162,000 patients are now stored on the databases. As a result, users are beginning to experience performance difficulties, and we project that these problems will increase dramatically during the next 12 months, necessitating a major hardware upgrade in early 2002. This proposal is a request for funds to upgrade the hardware platform once again to maintain the performance of the system in the face of these rapidly increasing demands.