NeCTAR (cloud computing)
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| NeCTAR (cloud computing) | |
|---|---|
| Name | NeCTAR |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Australia |
| Type | Research cloud infrastructure |
| Owner | Australian Research Council / Research organisations |
NeCTAR (cloud computing) is an Australian research cloud infrastructure project created to provide scalable computing resources for academic and scientific communities. It supports computational research across institutions such as the Australian Research Council, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney. NeCTAR enables collaboration among researchers linked to projects at institutions like the Australian National University, Monash University, and the University of Queensland.
Overview
NeCTAR provided cloud compute, storage and platform services to support projects involving organizations such as the Australian Research Council, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, the University of Queensland, Monash University, the Australian National University, the University of Western Australia, Curtin University, and Griffith University. It offered resources comparable to platforms used by researchers at institutions like Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, California Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, ETH Zurich, and Max Planck Society facilities. Collaborations extended to national infrastructures paralleling those of the European Grid Infrastructure, CERN computing, and the United States Department of Energy laboratories.
History and Development
NeCTAR was initiated in response to strategic investments similar to those by the Australian Research Council and analogue programs at institutions such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the European Research Council. Early development involved partnerships with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, Monash University, and the Australian National University. The project timeline intersected with milestones at agencies like the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, and research bodies such as the Australian Academy of Science. Its roadmap reflected practices seen at the OpenStack Foundation, the Apache Software Foundation, and collaborations with vendors akin to Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Dell, Cisco, and Intel.
Infrastructure and Architecture
The underlying architecture incorporated virtualization and orchestration technologies influenced by projects at the OpenStack Foundation, initiatives at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and cloud models from Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. NeCTAR's regional data centres worked with universities such as the University of Melbourne, Monash University, the University of Sydney, and the University of Queensland, and interfaced with national networks like AARNet and research networks akin to Internet2. Hardware partners resembled vendors such as Cisco, Dell, HP, Intel, and NVIDIA. The architecture supported workflows used in domains represented by the Australian National Data Service, the Australian e-Research Infrastructure Council, and international facilities like ELIXIR and the Australian Synchrotron.
Services and Features
NeCTAR provided virtual machine images, container orchestration, block storage, object storage, and identity management services comparable to offerings from Amazon EC2, Google Compute Engine, Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines, and OpenStack deployments at institutions like the University of Oxford and ETH Zurich. It supported research applications in bioinformatics used by organizations like CSIRO and projects affiliated with the Australian Genome Research Facility, computational chemistry efforts akin to initiatives at Max Planck, and geoscience simulations similar to work at Geoscience Australia. User services paralleled those at the Australian Research Data Commons and the Australian Access Federation, with integration patterns seen at the Open Science Grid and the European Grid Infrastructure.
Governance and Funding
Governance involved stakeholders comparable to national funding agencies such as the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, state governments like New South Wales and Victoria, universities including the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney, and research organisations such as CSIRO. Funding models resembled grant mechanisms used by the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, the European Research Council, and national programs at the National Science Foundation. Oversight structures drew on practices similar to those at the Australian Research Data Commons, the Australian eResearch Infrastructure Council, and collaborative governance models used by the OpenStack Foundation.
Adoption and Impact
Adoption spanned research groups at the University of Melbourne, Monash University, the University of Sydney, the University of Queensland, the Australian National University, Curtin University, and Griffith University. NeCTAR enabled projects in genomics connected to institutions like the Australian Genome Research Facility, climate science collaborations with the Bureau of Meteorology, astrophysics research similar to programs at the Australian Astronomical Observatory, and social science projects associated with the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Its impact was comparable to national computing initiatives at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the National Institutes of Health, and national grid projects in the United States and Europe.
Security and Compliance
Security practices aligned with frameworks used by organizations such as the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian Cyber Security Centre, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, and international standards endorsed by the International Organization for Standardization and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Compliance considerations included collaboration with university legal teams at the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, Monash University, and research offices like the Australian Research Council, following policies similar to those at the National Health and Medical Research Council and privacy frameworks comparable to state-level legislation in New South Wales and Victoria.