OIT’s research computing support team can direct you to other HPC and research computing services offered by OIT and other UA partners. If you have questions about a service that is not listed, please contact us.
Application, Database, and Web Servers
OIT offers Windows and Linux virtual machines (VMs) running on VMWare for your application, database, or web portal development and hosting. VM images and data are replicated to OIT’s backup systems at our 180 Peachtree DR facility in Atlanta.
See OIT Hosting Services to get started.
Cloud HPC Services
Microsoft Azure Cloud HPC and Storage
For commodity HPC cloud compute and/or storage, OIT provides connectivity to AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google cloud services. Please open a ITSD ticket to receive access
Please contact OIT for details on services and timeline for availability.
UAResCloud for NIST 800-171 Requirements
For research projects with federal CUI (CTI) data requirements (e.g., NIST 800-171), the university offers UAResCloud, a Microsoft Azure GovCloud High environment supported through UA’s Office for Sponsored Programs and OIT.
Data Center Housing
OIT can host your single node, small cluster, storage array, or physical server in the university’s primary 6,200 sq. ft. secure data center located in Gordon Palmer Hall on the UA campus (GPDC). GPDC hosts over 400 physical devices and 1500 virtual machines. OIT maintains a secondary campus data center for business continuity and disaster recovery in the Ridgecrest parking garage. OIT also maintains a DR facility at 180 Peachtree in Atlanta for geo-diversity protection.
See OIT Hosting Services to get started.
Research Networks
SciNet Research Network
UA SciNet is designed to support the rapid expansion of research across multiple sciences and engineering disciplines. UA SciNet is based on the design patterns and best practices emerging from Internet2 and ESNet. UA SciNet is an isolated network connecting to the UA wide-area network at the campus network border. It provides 10/40 Gbps connections between active data-intensive science areas and high-performance computing and research storage resources. It provides a bandwidth increase for research and lays the foundation for 100 Gbps connectivity to the wide-area network via the UA System Regional Optical (UAS-RON) network and Southern Crossroads services. It includes a robust performance monitoring and problem resolution component using perfSONAR. It aims to use wide-area remote DMA (RDMA) to achieve high-bandwidth remote access to UA Big Data resources.
HIPAA Network
For researchers working with HIPAA and other personally-identifiable data, UA provides a HIPAA network exclusively for desktops and servers hosting, or used to work with, these data.
See OIT Hosting Services to get started.
Research Software
Enterprise Software
UA makes available a number of science, mathematics, collaboration, design/development, and productivity software packages to faculty, staff, and students at no cost. For a comprehensive list of software, see OIT’s Software Catalog. OIT can also assist you with licensing requests for new software packages as well.
GitHub
UA offers researchers GitHub for code and document hosting and versioning. To purchase user licenses and have OIT build an organization for your project, please contact OIT.
State and National Resources
Alabama Supercomputer Authority (ASA)
The Alabama Supercomputer Authority (ASA) is a state-funded corporation founded in 1989 for the purpose of planning, acquiring, developing, administering and operating a statewide supercomputer and related telecommunication systems. Researchers may purchase cycles on ASA’s HPC clusters. ASA and UA are connected directly by the high-speed, high-bandwidth UA System Regional Optical Network (UAS-RON).
ACCESS
ACCESS is a program established and funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to help researchers and educators, with or without supporting grants, to utilize the nation’s advanced computing systems and services. OIT’s Center for Research Computing, through the ACCESS Campus Champions program, can help researchers gain access to resources at national supercomputing labs.
Custom Solutions
Custom computing solutions are available in certain circumstances when one of our other services does not fit your needs. OIT’s Research Computing staff will help you assess your needs and discuss your options with you. Please contact OIT to get started.
Other UA Resources
Alabama Digital Humanities Center
The Alabama Digital Humanities Center (ADHC) offers faculty, staff, and graduate students resources to explore digital humanities. Organized and supported by a community of academics at the University of Alabama, the ADHC provides technical skills, equipment, and collaborative opportunities to researchers at all levels of expertise and interest in the field.
Research Data Management and Curation
The University of Alabama Libraries offer a guide on data management and curation.