Thinking of using cloud services for your research, but don’t know where to start? UIS is here to help.
This information is aimed primarily at academics and researchers, particularly those less familiar with using cloud services. It is also relevant to others who need cloud computing services.
Benefits of cloud computing for research
The greatest benefit of cloud computing is that it gives you the opportunity to transform how you do certain compute tasks. It is particularly suited to short, time-limited tasks like research projects. It is not intended as a direct replacement for long-term or ongoing purposes such as institutional web servers.
Historically, many researchers using IT to solve research problems will be used to buying (or sharing) a computer, running some code, and getting a result that may take days, weeks or even months. The Cloud provides you with access to all the compute power you need to get your results quickly without investing in your own IT infrastructure. The pricing model is flexible and controllable to ensure you remain within your budget.
You only pay for the compute power you use. For example, using 10 cloud computers for 100 days costs the same as using 24,000 cloud computers for 1 hour, meaning that it may be possible to run your 10-day job over lunch instead of waiting 3 months for the results.
Other potential benefits vary with each scenario, but generally include:
- increased automation
- access to specialised hardware, for example, GPUs
- not having to manage your own infrastructure
- the potential for significant cost reduction.
Buy Amazon Web Services
Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides a huge range of services and options to suit every plausible cloud need. Access to AWS is available directly through a University-provided cloud research platform service at a discount on AWS list prices.
UIS’ cloud research platform provides a curated catalogue of virtual machines (VMs) and software images including popular research packages, as well as customisable base images. All images offered are Center for Internet Security (CIS) hardened to comply with security requirements.
How it works
AWS can be purchased using a Purchase Order with Jisc, which is acting as an AWS reseller. You will have access to the full power and complexity of the AWS infrastructure.
Further information:
We’re here to help and advise
If you have any questions or would like to talk about how the Cloud might help in your situation, please contact cloudsupport@uis.cam.ac.uk, giving us as much notice as possible.