This grant provides two years partial salary support for a computer technician to maintain the computer network at the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. This is a phase II technician support grant under the Instrumentation and Facilities (IF) Program and follows three years of Phase I support (EAR-95-30529). The IGPP Network Operations Manager, Pat Russo, maintains the IGPP computer operating systems and other software, performs regular backups of data files, installs and maintains new hardware, arranges for the cross-mounting of hard drives, provides printing services, troubleshoots problems, and ensures reliable network connectivity within IGPP and to the outside world. Maintenance of this infrastructure is vital for the efficient operation of scientific computing for a large number of IGPP scientists, and the continued health of computational research at IGPP in seismology, oceanography, geomagnetism and geodesy. As a condition of Phase II support from the Earth Sciences' Instrumentation and Facilities Program, SIO/IGPP will fully underwrite the salary of the network operations manager for a minimum of two years beyond the expiration of this award. ***
