Evolution of the LBT Telemetry System

The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) Telescope Control System (TCS) records about 10GB of telemetry data per night. Additionally, the vibration monitoring system records about 9GB of telemetry data per night. Through 2013, we have amassed over 6TB of Hierarchical Data Format (HDF5) files and almost 9TB in a MySQL database of TCS and vibration data. The LBT telemetry system, in its third major revision since 2004, provides the mechanism to capture and store this data. The telemetry system has evolved from a simple HDF file system with MySQL stream definitions within the TCS, to a separate system using a MySQL database system for the definitions and data, and finally to no database use at all, using HDF5 files.