Systems operators are responsible for deploying and maintaining a DataSHIELD server. Currently there are two options, Opal and Armadillo. Opal is built and maintained by Obiba, and is a data management server which supports DataSHIELD analysis and also contains many additional features. Armadillo is built and maintained by Molgenis, and was designed as a light-weight server specifically to implement DataSHIELD analysis. DataSHIELD was originally developped using Opal, and Opal is still the reference implementation.
Both solutions share core functionality, and can be administered either using a user interface or R. However, the steps involved will be different.
Both solutions have documents explaining the installation process:
Opal documentation
Armadillo documentation
A list of deployment documentation from various consortia using DataSHIELD is also available.