How do we get collection images to appear (provider hosting)?

Question

Despite forcing a refresh and waiting several days, we are still not seeing the collection images show up in iTunes U using a feed from our in-development RSS feed service which is slated to replace our in-service machine in the next few weeks.  One of the new features is the inclusion of channel/collection images in the RSS feed so this is an item of considerable concern for us.
The currently deployed system  sent the same image for all channels/collections, a stock institutional logo.  That got really monotonous very quickly. The new system enables the channel owner to upload a 300x300 image for each channel.  So we have a set of two case studies to compare. 
Currently deployed system
Feed:  http://podcasting.usg.edu/4dcgi/podcasting/gcsu/channels21674/19013.xml
Appearance in iTunes U:
The relevant XML:
<channel>
     <itunes:image href="http://podcasting.usg.edu/stats/GCSU/logos/gcsu.jpg"></itunes:image>
Aside from the monotony of the same image for every channel/collection, this works as intended.
About-to-be-deployed system
Feed:  http://denver.gcsu.edu/4dcgi/podcasting/gcsu/channels21674/19013.xml
Appearance in iTunes U:
The relevant XML: 
<channel>
     <itunes:image href="http://denver.gcsu.edu/podcastdata/GCSU/Channel_19013/19013.png"></itunes:image>
Since you can paste the address of this image into a web browser and see it just fine, I’m at a loss to understand why  iTunes U is unable to do so in this case (the in-development server) when it succeeds in the case of the currently deployed server.  The structure of the RSS is exactly the same.
Now that both channels are published, a further mystery is pictured below.  The “old”  or currently deployed server displays the image in the RSS feed but the “new” server is displaying a podcast icon!  Where did that come from?  It certainly doesn’t look anything like the image we specified in the RSS feed for that channel. 
From “What’s New” See All:
A possible clue:
Further on in the RSS for the new server, we attempt to provide an image for each of the episodes/items as follows:
<channel>
          <item>
     <itunes:image href="http://denver.gcsu.edu/podcastdata/GCSU/Channel_19013/podcast_6626/6626.png"></itunes:image>
Since iTunes U doesn't (yet) support uploaded images for episodes/items, I wondered if this might be the culprit.  OTOH, unrecognized tags should be ignored.

Answer 1

It would help if you'd given some idea of what you've done so far, so that people don't waste time going through the things you've already done.
For example, you don't say whether or not you've connected the XServe RAID to a host system via the fiber channel cables. That's the first thing.
Have you yet configured the XServe RAID (using RAID Admin) with the array settings you want (e.g. RAID 5, RAID 1, one slice, 5 slices, etc., etc., etc.).
Out of the box, the XServe RAID will be configured for one RAID 5 array per side, so you might be OK there, but you might not.
Then does Disk Utility show the arrays at all?
If not, does System Profiler show the arrays connected?
If they are connected Disk Utility would usually show them, which might indicate the fiber channel cables are not connected.
If Disk Utility does show them, you might need to initialize the arrays. Once they're initialized they should appear on the desktop.