1.2 Providing Data with OPeNDAP

The OPeNDAP data provider is the person or organization willing to make their digital datasets available to the community with an OPeNDAP server.

The designers of OPeNDAP recognized that many of the data users are also the data providers, and OPeNDAP was built with a recognition that providing the data should be as simple and as straightforward as possible. In many cases, once a local web server is equipped to become an OPeNDAP server, a scientist need do very little beyond what must be done simply to make the data available locally. (i.e., Put the data into a file format that can be read by the locally used data analysis and display programs.) The tasks of a data provider can be separated into three parts:

• Install and configure the OPeNDAP server. (Section 5.2.)
• Create whatever ancillary data files are needed by the data set (if any). (Section 1.2.2.)

• 1.2.1 The OPeNDAP Server
• 1.2.2 Ancillary Data
• 1.2.3 Administration and Centralization of Data