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What sort of hardware does DSpace require? What about sizing the server? How much disk space do I need?

There are no specific server requirements for DSpace . Because the application is written in Java, it will therefore run on any Operating System (UNIXLinux, Windows, Mac OSX), though most people tend to run it on UNIX. DSpace . DSpace is built on top of free, open-source tools, such as the Apache Web server, the Tomcat Servlet engine, and the PostgreSQL relational database system. For  For your convenience, we package the necessary JDBC and other drivers and libraries together with DSpace. This set of tools should run on any UNIX-type OS, such as Linux, HP/UX, or Solaris, and you can substitute other libraries if you need to run on another platform. The system runs on anything from a laptop to a $500K server, but there are a few general recommendations for hardware architectures. For a research universityIn a production setting where DSpace is actively used in public, DSpace requires a reasonably good server (see below) and a decent amount of memory and disk storage. Some examples from the community (not necessarily endorsements):

• HP Server rx2600, powered by dual 64-bit Intel Itanium 2 processors (900MHz), 2GB RAM, 26 GB internal disk storage.
• HP StorageWorks Modular SAN Array 1000 (msa1000) with a single high-performance controller. Options include a second controller and, with the addition of two more drive enclosures, controls up to 42 Ultra2, Ultra 3, or Ultra320 SCSI drives. Total capacity can be six terabytes. Cost starts around $40K and goes up to around $1.8M.
• SunFire 280R Server, two 900MHz UltraSPARC-III Cu processors, 8MB E-cache, 2GB memory, two 36GB 10,000rpm HH internal FCAL disk drives, DVD, 436-GB, or 12 x 26.4 Gbyte 10K RPM disks, Sun StorEdge A1000 rackmountable w/ 1 HW RAID controller, 24MB std cache. Around $30K.
• Dell PowerEdge 2650 with dual Xeon processors (2.4GHz), 2GB RAM, 2x73GB scsi disks. One 2.5TB Apple XServe. A DLT tape library to back up the DB/jsps etc. Around $10K.

For such production usage, following requirements are meant as a guideline:

Minimal DSpace Production system requirements 

• Dual Core processor 
• 4 GB of Random Access Memory (RAM)
• 73 GB 10,000 rpm disks for storing the database and indexes
• 7,400 rpm disks for storing the data (size depends on the anticipated amount of storage). All hard drives should be in a RAID1 set-up.

Approximate cost: around $2000. (roughly verified 12/04/2012 through Dell)

Recommended DSpace Production system requirements:

• Quad Core processor
• 8GB of Random Access Memory (RAM)
• 73 GB 15,000 rpm network disks in RAID accessible over a gigabit connection for storing the database and indexes
• 7,400 rpm network disks in RAID accessible over a gigabit connection for storing the data whose size can be easily expanded.

Approximate cost: around $2500. (roughly verified 12/04/2012 through Dell)

Cloud hosting recommendations

You can use the above hardware recommendation to analyse whether a virtualized cloud hosting platform will meet your needs. For example, when evaluating Amazon's Elastic Cloud services, you can compare the instance types with the above hardware recommendations. Currently, a Medium EC2 instances roughly corresponds with the above Minimal Production system requirements. Therefor, it is discouraged to run a production DSpace instance on Amazon's Small instances.

If you are considering other online hosting services, always keep in mind that you need a service that offers you SSH remote access in order for you to follow the DSpace installation procedures. Many online hosting platforms offer only very basic PHP or MySQL support that don't suffice for installing and operating DSpace.

At all times, your own bandwidth, storage and processor requirements (and associated Of course, your mileage (and costs) will vary depending on what you plan to do with the system.

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