DCC Data Centres Synthesis Study: August 2007-February 2008

This study was undertaken as part of the wider Community Development Programme, under Phase 2 of the DCC, which aims to address the curation and preservation needs and requirements of UK data centres. Its goal was to investigate the perceived roles and responsibilities of data centres, how they operate in practice, what policies and standards they apply, and the strategic and operational challenges they are currently encountering. The aim was to identify where best practice can be shared and which areas would benefit from collaboration, at the same time highlighting issues that are of common interest as potential threats or opportunities to the data centre community. The results of the analysis and the insights gained from the survey will contribute to the planning of national fora sponsored by the DCC, as well as other Community Development activities.
The study comprised a series of visits to UK data centres and an online questionnaire. It was undertaken over the period August - December 2007; the writing up and synthesis of the results taking place between January-February 2008. UK data centres that have substantial data holdings were targeted, with a particular emphasis on those that deal with large research datasets. The short timescale available to the study has meant that we received only six responses to our survey:
Medical Research Council (MRC)
UK Data Archive (UKDA)
EDINA
Archaeology Data Service (ADS)
Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC-RAL)
NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC)