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Australia s first research Cloud is expected to expand up to25,000 cores over the next 18 months as the Cloud s scalabilityincreases. The National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources (NeCTAR)research Cloud was launched in February this year and was developed by the University of Melbourne in conjunctionwith Xenon. The Cloud was funded through the Education Investment Fund underthe Super Science Initiative and provides Australian researcherswith a community where they can share ideas, tools, research dataand applications online in real time. Tom Fifield, technology team lead of the NeCTAR research Cloud nodeat the University of Melbourne, told Computerworld Australia the research Cloud has been designed to foster innovation andcollaboration between researchers from a variety of differentpublicly-funded disciplines around Australia. The research Cloud is really great for researchers because itgives them the utmost level of control over the resources, Fifield says. There are now 28 universities and 15 institutes using it, includingthe CSIRO and the Children s Research Institute, and it iscurrently running 3840 cores in two data centres. The University of Melbourne is currently the only university with anode to the Cloud, but other universities are expected to buildnodes this year, with contract negotiations underway with theAustralian National University, Monash University and theQueensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation. Cloud computing has really enabled researchers to do things thatthey couldn t do with existing infrastructure. Now people can runa Web server with collaboration tools on the Cloud, and that ssomething that was previously impossible with the HPC system they weren t designed to do that kind of thing, Fifield says. The Cloud uses an OpenStack framework which has been modified tomake it more accessible and user friendly. For example, users donot need new usernames or passwords to log into the Cloud as theycan use existing university login details. Researchers can also runtheir own operating system and install software. However, Fifield says it was difficult to find skilled people inOpenStack and as the Cloud was a first in the field ofresearch, NeCTAR could not look at previous case studies forguidance. The Cloud was also required to be completed in a set timeframe.Fifield says, We had to create a very complex Cloud computingenvironment with limited people on a crazily short timeframe. Someof us worked through the Christmas break in 2011 to get the Cloudlive . It also needed to be easy to use, with complaints previously beingmade that eResearch infrastructure was difficult to navigate. When we were making the research Cloud, we really aimed to lowerthose barriers and make it as easy to use as possible, Fifieldsaid. One way it has done that is to allow researchers to log into theCloud without approval from NeCTAR for a trial period from one ortwo virtual machines. In the medium term, Fifield says the focus will be to scale up theCloud and provide an infrastructure layer which will allowresearchers to carry out as much research as they need. Once thetechnology has been established, Fifield says the discussion canbegin again around the actual research taking place. The idea is we ve got this infrastructure and from here, oncethat s sorted, we [can] start looking at platforms forcollaboration and software offerings, he said. Instead of researchers having to worry about infrastructure as aservice [of] Cloud computing, they can just get in there, click abutton and [they ve got their information]. Eventually Fifield would like to see the Cloud integrate into theeveryday workflow of researchers around the country. Essentially, if we re able to provide a resource that makes theresearcher able to worry less about their computing and just get onwith their research, then that would be a fantastic thing, hesays. NeCTAR also recently signed a research tool contract with the University of Western Australiato create a new Cloud-based 'bioinformatics' tool. Follow Stephanie McDonald on Twitter: @stephmcdonald0 Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Home Decoration Pieces , Art Deco Glass Vase for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Interior Ceiling Lights.
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