UIC Launches Two NEW Cloud Services for Research
High Performance Computing (HPC) and Secure Computing Environment (SCE) in the Cloud
Over the past decade, cloud computing has been a transformational force for numerous industries. Higher Education and Research are no exception.
Advanced Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Research (ACER) is excited to announce the availability of two new cloud-based services for UIC’s research community: High Performance Computing (HPC) in the Cloud and Secure Computing Environment (SCE) in the Cloud.
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UIC researchers and students continue to raise the impact and scope of research on our campus year after year. To support and elevate these activities and ambitions further, the ACER team is truly excited to announce the availability of two new cloud-based services for our researchers.
| Director, Advanced Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Research
About High Performance Computing in the Cloud Heading link
This service combines all the computational power of a high-performance computing (HPC) cluster with the convenience and flexibility of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud. It is a full-featured, on-demand computational cluster consisting of 750 traditional CPU machines, 187 Nvidia GPUs, and six special-purpose high-memory nodes.
The software stack contains a large number of preinstalled software packages including CUDA and MPI libraries, C and C++ compilers, the python and R interpreted languages, and several specialty-specific programs. Additional software packages can be installed upon request.
Additional benefits of using ACER’s AWS HPC as opposed to creating individual AWS resources include, but are not limited to:
- access to ACER and AWS enterprise support
- integration with the UIC authentication system
- dedicated network connectivity to and from AWS resources
- centralized security controls
- discounted pricing
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ACER’s hybrid and multi-cloud strategy will ensure that the UIC community will get to select the best platform for their specific use cases and have the ability to use those platforms securely, seamlessly, and at an unprecedented scale.
| Director, Advanced Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Research
About Secure Computing Environment in the Cloud Heading link
The SCE in the Cloud service extends our on-premises Secure Computing Environment (SCE) to the Microsoft Azure Cloud. SCE is designed to assist researchers in implementing necessary safeguards to protect sensitive datasets such as ePHI (electronic personal health information) and other types of high-risk data.
ACER worked carefully with security specialists from Microsoft and UIC to ensure the SCE Cloud service meets best practices from the Microsoft HIPAA/HITRUST compliance framework.
Additional benefits of using ACER’s Azure SCE are:
- access to ACER and Microsoft enterprise support
- integration with UIC authentication system
- dedicated network connectivity to and from Azure resources
- centralized security controls & monitoring
- discounted pricing
Innovate Initiative Heading link
The launch of these two computing research services supports the Innovate initiative as part of the IT Strategy:
- Enhancing the technology ideation process and build a pipeline of technology innovation
- Providing platforms and services designed to provide security and scale for heterogeneous research data.
Learn more about these services and the IT Strategy.