ISC Hub

The ISC Hub serves as the central data-routing powerhouse of the Inner Space Center, housing the core server infrastructure and network hardware required to run global distributed ocean science missions. Located on-site at the facility, the Hub acts as the primary receiving terminal for real-time video, audio, and scientific data from science vessels and their deep-sea technologies.

ISC network engineers utilize the Hub to manage high-definition multicast video streams, transcoding and redistributing them globally over the high-speed Internet2 network to partner sites, universities, and public websites. By continuously monitoring this centralized backend data pipeline, the Hub provides the crucial, low-latency link that keeps shoreside participants connected to the missions at sea.

Data Repository and Asset Management

The ISC hosts a live and legacy data repository from partnering programs. Asset management services provide critical backend data preservation, serving as the unofficial archive for global ocean exploration expeditions. Operating out of its dedicated server hub, this service acts as an intermediate storage and processing facility that ingests massive, high-volume datasets, including broadcast-quality high-definition video, acoustic, and ROV sensor data, that result from research and exploration cruises. This allows real-time access to video and data for participants on shore.

Tape Lab

The ISC Tape Lab serves as a specialized video preservation and digital archiving facility focused on protecting historical deep-sea video footage from remotely operated vehicles. As part of data modernization initiatives with partners like NOAA, the lab is responsible for the inventory, digitization, and long-term storage of deep-sea video assets originally recorded on physical media (such as analog tapes and optical discs). The lab’s technicians transfer these legacy formats into standardized, uncompressed digital files and persistent Linear Tape-Open (LTO) tape archives.

This process protects valuable seafloor imagery from media deterioration and ensures its preservation for future scientific re-analysis. The Tape Lab sends copies of the verified tape footage into data archives for partners such as Ocean Exploration Trust and NOAA Ocean Exploration.

The ISC fulfills video requests for archived video that may be otherwise inaccessible. Increasingly the team works to upload the videos to partner YouTube channels, often with scientific observation log timemarkers.