About QCIF
The Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation (QCIF) Limited is a consortium of six Queensland universities structured as a not-for-profit company founded in 2000 (as QPSF - the Queensland Parallel SuperComputing Foundation and renamed in 2006).
QCIF’s members are:
- CQUniversity
- Griffith University
- James Cook University
- Queensland University of Technology
- The University of Queensland
- University of Southern Queensland
- University of the Sunshine Coast (associate member)
Based in two Queensland locations (Brisbane/Townsville), QRIScloud (RDSI-funded and hosted by QCIF) offers researchers large-scale cloud computing and data storage services.
QRIScloud allows researchers to use large virtual clusters, host web services, store even very large research datasets, share existing data collections across research communities, and collaborate more easily with researchers nationally and internationally, whether in government, academia or industry.
Useful Links:
Apply for Storage with QRIScloud
Register for an account using your institutional login credentials through AAF (Australian Access Federation) authentication. Users can request storage in the “Accounts” section of the QRIScloud portal. For more information see the QRISguide.
Storage at QCIF (QRIScloud)
| Storage name | Category | Features |
|---|---|---|
| QRISdata - Frequent Access | Working | For datasets that are either changing or require frequent access. It is replicated daily with on and off site copies. |
| QRISdata - Infrequent Access | Working | Datasets that are accessed less frequently are less volatile and are not being used for compute intensive work. It is replicated daily with on and off site copies. |
| QRISdata - Archive Storage | Archival | Archival storage for datasets. Data may be held off-line. It is replicated regularly with on and off site copies. |
| Computational Storage | Computational | High-speed persistent disk storage that can be written and read like a physical computer’s hard drive |
Storage-Related Services at QCIF (QRIScloud)
| Service Name | Category | Features | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| QRIScloud portal | Service Portal | QCIF’s web portal to manage access to research data and compute services | user guide |
| Medici | Data Fabric | The Medici data fabric allows access to files via GPFS caches in the QCIF's primary data center, and on participating university's campuses. Medici facilitates ingestion of data on campus, and access from HPC systems in various locations. | |
| Data | Data Access | Provides an endpoint for SSH-based access to collections. Supported access protocols are ssh login, scp, sftp and rsync. | |
| NextCloud | Data Access | Provides "personal" data shared, and web-based access to collections | |
| NFS | Data Access | Subject to technical restrictions, a Nectar VM in QRIScloud may be granted access to NFS mount a collection | |
| Hoover/ Dustbuster | Data Transfer | Fast ingest of data from your hard drives on QCIF premises/ Load your data to QCIF portable hard drives on your premises | information |
| ReDBox | Workflow | Primarily a research data registry, ReDBox provides workflows and interfaces for the creation of metadata. ReDBox allows for the upload of data as well as supporting evidence files (e.g licences or IP statements). | information |
For more information on Storage and other services at QCIF, lodge a support ticket or visit www.qcif.edu.au or www.qriscloud.org.au.