Cloud computing

Our cloud computing environments are Infrastructure-as-a-Service clouds, meaning that users are given access to computing resources that allow you to launch and configure virtual machines (VMs) at any time. Cloud computing resources:

• are a flexible solution for more customized project needs
• let you set up a virtual server that can be used for whatever you want, whenever you want
• require technical skill to set up and maintain

Cloud computing resources are managed by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada ("the alliance"). Our alliance resource page will help you create an alliance account, understand user roles, and create cloud VMs. Your cloud project will be set up on a cloud like Arbutus, a dedicated research cloud hosted at UVic.

Use cases

Cloud resources can be utilized in multiple ways. Many researchers are using our clouds to host:

• Django and Flask websites
• Virtuoso servers
• topic modeling and text mining explorers
• custom configured Jupyterhub environments

Other researchers are using cloud resources to run browser-based research tools like:

• data portals
• monitoring platforms (like health applications)
• custom platforms for organizing their HPC cluster batch jobs and post-processed data

Examples

• The Mountain Legacy project uses cloud computing to capture change in Canada's mountains.
• The ATLAS Tier 2 site at UVic uses a Kubernetes cluster to process computing tasks for particle physics research.

Cloud computing storage

Cloud computing storage is available for researchers using Alliance cloud computing instances. This type of storage makes your data accessible to the cloud virtual machine resources you've set up for your research.

• Can store up to 30TB per research group in a default allocation.
• Data is automatically backed up nightly.
• Service is located in secure data centres at UVic.
• Used for research data used with a cloud computing project.
• Requires a system administrator to set-up and maintain.
• Multiple types of storage to choose from.

Alliance resources

Commercial cloud

If you're looking for alternatives to the Alliance cloud computing resources, there are some commercial cloud computing options available as well.

We strongly recommend planning a consultation with us before choosing a commercial cloud platform. There may be more sustainable options available for you to use for free.

Here are some of the commercial cloud platforms offering free or subsidized resources for academic researchers in Canada:

• Google provides cloud credits for PhD, postdoctoral researchers and faculty. Users can apply for access.
• AWS Public Sector Cloud provides cloud credits for researchers as part of its Credit for Research Program.
• Oracle provides cloud credits for its research cloud.