This manual describes the features and operation of the Hyrax data server, a data server developed by OPeNDAP, Inc. as a reference server for the Data Access Protocol, versions 2 and 4. the Hyrax server is modular software with a number of handlers that are loaded into a core framework based on the contents of configuration files. Each of the server’s modules provides a distinct functional capability, such as reading data from a certain kind of file, encoding data, or processing data in different ways.
The text contained here was built up over several years as modules were added to the system. Originally, the documentation was built using a Wiki (because it was a collaborative writing tool for a distributed group of people), where each component had a separate page. Over time, as information was spread across many web pages and the Wiki, this became unmanageable. We hope this new format reads more like a guide for people who want to install and configure the server and less like a design document.
The High Altitude Observatory at NCAR contributed the BES framework that is the basis for the server’s data processing engine and modular extensibility.
Keith Seyffarth extracted the Wiki’s text that forms the basis of this manual, and Alexander Porrello and Leonard Porrello edited the text.