What is the Virtualization Cluster?

The Virtualization Cluster (aka "SKY" System) is a system that hosts virtual machines for research computing purposes. Users can provision, destroy, snapshot, start, stop, and administer virtual machines via a web panel or through SSH.

Data analysis workflows and pipelines increasingly rely on web-based applications and databases to facilitate job submission and to share results with a broad user community. With the Sky System, RCC users can deploy an appropriately sized Virtual Machine (VM) within minutes, avoiding the delays often associated with purchasing and installing new hardware. Users have administrative access to their VMs, so it is also useful for custom software deployments.

What is it used For?

Servers in the Virtualization Cluster can be applied to research in many different contexts. Since it connects directly to our storage systems, VMs can host websites to expose large datasets to researchers. Likewise, research groups can create and host collaborative tools, such as wikis, blogs, or custom sites to facilitate their work. Systems can also be used for testing, prototyping, and other activities where purchasing dedicated hardware resources may not be appropriate.

The Virtualization Cluster is also used for providing compute resources to those research projects that need less compute-intensive resources, such as web servers, small database servers, or custom data collection tools.

Who has access?

Access to the Virtualization Cluster is available for purchase on a monthly or pre-paid five-year basis. Keep in mind that this system is provided to support grant-funded research activities. Other departments within ITS offer VMs for departmental website or other non-research related purposes (more info).

See our pricing page for details.