Nirvana SRB Evaluations
Do you think Nirvana SRB might be right for your project? A small-scale proof-of-concept or production prototype is the best way to experience the product's capabilities, versatility and ease-of-use.
Under an Evaluation License you can undertake a small-scale install, even at the desktop level in a single site, to configure, test and evaluate Nirvana SRB's capabilities in your own environment.
Academic Research Program
Qualifying institutions that meet the following criteria are eligible for a free software use license:
- Registered as a nonprofit organization
- Accredited to grant educational degrees
- Intend to use SRB for academic research purposes only
- No generation of revenue with the use of SRB
Shareware or COTS?
For prospective users who meet these criteria, the first consideration is whether to choose this Academic Research Program, the same current code set under a COTS license or a similar product and program, such as earlier shareware versions of SRB or iRODS. These are some initial considerations in making this decision:
- How important is Security (authentication, data transfer and access) to your project? If these are critical be aware that they are weak in shareware versions though strong in the COTS version of Nirvana SRB.
- How complex is your data management scenario? If you put a high value on enterprise-wide, fine-grained, role-based administration, auto-server reconfiguration, error correction and retry, and flexible path storage for cluster-based file systems you should first consider Nirvana SRB. If your implementation is straightforward, a simple or greenfield collaborative group, you may be able to choose a shareware option.
- Are you short of budget, manpower or both? The COTS Nirvana SRB license cost can be avoided by using a shareware product such as (now unsupported) SRB or iRODS but this typically means more development and integration effort, a longer implementation timeline and a greater risk associated with new code. But if you have the manpower, lack budget and can afford some operations risk and project delay the shareware products are attractive.
- Is performance critical? Define your performance requirements first, as differences in architecture of the various products and versions can have a big impact on your final result. For instance, Nirvana SRB's Integrated Shell may be critical to your desired performance, and this should be decided up front.
- Will you need commercial services and documentation for your project? If you expect to use configuration consulting, training, installation services and typical commercial support and updates (and have the budget) then you should first consider the COTS option. If you plan to use only community-based support, or your own staff, then you can consider one of the shareware options.
- How much performance and uptime risk are you willing to accept? If you don't have COTS software budget then you may have to accept the risk of using earlier unsupported shareware versions of SRB or iRODS, just be aware of the difference in quality of code and the possible impact on your project.
There are a lot of considerations in choosing the right product and support program, in the context of your project requirements and available resources. If you are asking these questions
contact us and we will walk you through the details of this decision.