The ground data processing segment for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is the Interface Data Processing Segment (IDPS), developed by Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems. The IDPS processes NPOESS satellite data to provide environmental data products to processing centrals operated by the U.S. government. The IDPS will process environmental data products beginning with the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) and continuing through the lifetime of the NPOESS system. The recently adopted Storage Area Network (SAN)/Fiber Channel interface architecture satisfactorily addresses three principal issues previously conveyed by the four numerical modeling and prediction centrals comprising the prospective host locations for IDPS—the Air Force Weather Agency in Omaha, Nebraska; the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service in Suitland, Maryland; the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center in Monterey, California; and the Naval Oceanographic Office in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi. First, the centrals carried concerns about assured delivery of NPOESS data products since these data are critical to their mission success in an operational environment. Second, the centrals sought greater reliability and capacity for automation of the data request and status interface, or the need for better “handshaking”. Third, the centrals desired measurement and accountability of NPOESS data latency at the point data products are received by their information enterprise in order to properly plan for the initialization of assimilation and product delivery systems running independently on their side of the interface. The SAN/Fiber Channel interface provides delivery of NPOESS data products directly to the Landing Zone (LZ) on the central's organic SAN. The Fiber Channel is extremely reliable and efficient and is a high performance solution. The interface architecture embraces file system virtualization and SAN technology to allow each central the option to employ the SAN manufacturer and operating system that best satisfies their internal requirements. The architecture provides an ability to directly interface with a Java Messaging Service (JMS)-based request and status capability. JMS is the messaging service being adopted by the Department of Defense Joint Meteorology and Oceanography (METOC). Customer databases within a Joint METOC architecture will be able to initiate automated data requests and receive and process status messages in an automated manner. The new architecture retains the NPOESS baseline application program interface (API) for non-JMS users to provide an alternative for full request and status functionality. Finally, the SAN/Fiber Channel interface architecture will be provided with a methodology that measures and accounts for the latency of data products at final delivery of the products to the central's LZ. The SAN/Fiber Channel interface has been universally accepted by the centrals and endorsed by the prospective NPOESS user community.