SERVICES / COMPUTING / QRISCLOUD
Based in Queensland, QRIScloud offers researchers large-scale cloud computing and data storage services. QRIScloud’s role is to stimulate and accelerate the use of computing by researchers across all disciplines.
QRIScloud lets researchers compute using large virtual clusters, host web services, store very large research data sets, share existing data collections across research communities, and collaborate more easily with other researchers nationally and internationally, whether in government, academia or industry.
QRIScloud is part of a federally-funded, national network of research computing infrastructure designed to provide researchers with access to high-speed, high-capacity computing services.
QRIScloud is managed by QCIF and jointly operated through The University of Queensland and James Cook University.
To access QRIScloud services, such as setting up data storage, or launching virtual machines, please contact the QRIScloud Help Desk.
QRIScloud enables institutions to focus on their key research, knowing that compute power is readily available and that data sets generated by their researchers are stored in a safe and easily accessible location.
Using QRIScloud, researchers can:
- Share data sets with collaborators worldwide
- Manage and control access to their data collections
- Leverage data collections stored in state and national Nectar nodes
- Integrate access to Queensland-based HPC facilities and specialised cloud services
- Access virtual labs with national communities
- Launch on-demand computation
- Host web services
- Access and use a wide range of existing eResearch services, tools and applications.
To find out how QRIScloud can support your research, visit the QRIScloud site
SERVICES / COMPUTING / HPC
The term high-performance computing (HPC) is usually associated with computing used for the purpose of scientific research.
HPC uses parallel clusters of supercomputers – computers with the highest processing capacity for super-fast calculation speeds.
Supercomputers are used in situations where data sets are too large to be run on common desktop PCs and software applications. The supercomputers are clustered so that two or more computers can serve a single source, thus improving performance and providing redundancy in case of system failure.
QCIF machines are available to researchers across all scientific fields and disciplines but are most commonly used in the areas of engineering, medicine, manufacturing, and resource management.
HPC and research support services are available to all QCIF member staff and HDR students and are designed to enhance research outcomes and productivity in the following areas:
- High-speed computation, including the use of high-performance supercomputing systems
- Visualisation tools that allow scientific, engineering and other data sets to be transformed into 2D/3D visual representations
- Programming support for research applications, including code parallelisation and optimisation
- Statistics and data modelling.
Get an Account
High-performance computing facilities are located at each of the QCIF member partners. If you are a staff member or student at UQ, QUT, Griffith, JCU, CQU or USQ, please contact your institution’s HPC/eResearch department initially:
HPC@UQ HPC@QUT HPC@Griffith HPC@JCU HPC@CQU HPC@USQ
National Computational Infrastructure
QCIF holds a share of the NCI facility. This entitles QCIF members to access time on the supercomputer at NCI.
Queensland researchers can use NCI’s supercomputer either by applying directly to NCI for an allocation of time under the NCMAS scheme (a merit allocation scheme) or by applying for an allocation from QCIF’s partner share.
Please apply for QCIF’s share via the application form on the QRIScloud portal. (Please note: if you are a first-time user of the portal, you will be asked to create an account before you can create the request).
Any problems or queries, please contact QCIF eResearch Analyst Dr Marlies Hankel: marlies.hankel@qcif.edu.au.