ORNIS follows other distributed data networks in using the Distributed Information Generic Retrieval (DiGIR) protocol. DiGIR was developed as a collaborative effort between the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of Kansas Biodiversity Research Center, and California Academy of Sciences. DiGIR is a public open source project with an international team of contributers. More on DiGIR.
We recommend that a DiGIR provider is installed on a dedicated server with the following minimal specifications:
Processors: dual 2.4GHz
Operating System: your choice
Graphics: unimportant
Memory: 512 MB
Storage: 40 GB
Read/Write devices: your choice
Backup: No extra hardware required, there is nothing in a DiGIR installation that needs to be backed up regularly.
Network: Ethernet port
Warranty: the more the merrier
Other major distributed database projects that use DiGIR include:
| MaNIS | Mammal Networked Information System | http://manisnet.org/ |
| HerpNET | Herpetological Distributed Information Network | http://www.herpnet.org/ |
| FishNet | Fish Distributed Information System | http://speciesanalyst.net/fishnet/ |
| PaleoPortal | The Paleontology Portal | http://www.paleoportal.org/ |
| OBIS | Ocean Biogeographic Information System | http://www.iobis.org/Welcome.htm |
| GBIF | Global Biodiversity Information Facility | http://www.gbif.org/ |