Careful planning: SCD's Supercomputer Systems Group has a planning meeting to foresee contingincies for the ARCS arrival. Left to right, Pam Gillman, Marc Genty, Jeff Cowan, John Ellis, and George Fuentes (group head).

For months before the bluesky arrival, SSG worked closely with IBM's Large Systems Support Group in Poughkeepsie, New York, to address software issues and develop the system configuration.

Photo: Lynda Lester—NCAR/SCD