What is a HydroServer?

The Hydrologic Information System is a federated data system, which means data are not hosted in one place on one server, but on many servers in many places all over the world. Such servers that host data in HIS are called HydroServers. To enable this type of system, a relational database schema, the Observations Data Model (ODM), and software stack (ODM Tools) have been developed for publishers to manage their data.

The hardware and software needed to configure a HydroServer for time series data is not all that demanding. The standard configuration uses Microsoft products: Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition, SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition, and Microsoft Internet Information Services. Additionally, to enable the geospatial component of a HydroServer, a GIS server such as ArcGIS Server or GeoServer must be installed. 

With all of these components installed, it is then possible to load data into an ODM database, attach the database to SQL server, and finally setup a web service that can transmit data.