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Knowledge Base
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Research Cloud Service
Description
The Reading Research Cloud is a platform for server hosting which runs virtual machine (VMs) on University owned servers, The platform is comprised of servers with a combination of: high end CPU, GPU, Memory and SSD Storage. Also all the servers are connected by a reliable high speed network. This means that the platform is flexible enough to meet the users research requirements while being available at an affordable price.
The Research Cloud is managed by a self-service portal. Because of this the user can provision and configure servers to their own needs. We also offer a set of standard templates which can be used and adapted by the end user available on login.
How to access
Access to the Research Cloud can be requested using the form available in the DTS Self Service Portal (TOPdesk).
Research Cloud Pricing 2020-2021
Users can calculate the costs for using virtual machines or storage by combining the basic units below as required.
- CPU – £70.04 per core per year
- Memory – £35.02 per GB per year
- Data Storage – £282.22 per TB per year
- GPU – £125.00 per GPU per year (640 CUDA Cores)
- Offsite backup for VM – £60.00 per TB per year
These costs have been certified for use with research councils. VAT will be charged for external entities.
The below table shows costs for some typical configurations which are comparable to costs on public clouds.
Typical VM Prices
| Annual Cost | VM Configuration |
|---|---|
| £140.08 | 1 core, 2 GB RAM |
| £280.16 | 2 core, 4 GB RAM |
| £560.32 | 4 core, 8 GB RAM |
| £1,120.64 | 8 core, 16 GB RAM |
| £2,240.25 | 16 core, 32 GB RAM |
| £4,481.53 | 32 core, 64 GB RAM |