CHICAGO, July 7, 2021 – The Australian national research and education network AARNet, a non-profit provider of network, cyber security, data and collaboration services, has signed an agreement with Globus, a department within the University of Chicago, to add Globus as a research data management service. The Globus service, combined with AARNet’s high bandwidth connections, will enable researchers to securely and reliably, transfer and share data – and to rapidly move data between instruments, storage and computing facilities throughout the research data lifecycle.
The combination of available compute power, new technologies, and volume of data all afford today’s researcher with many challenges and opportunities. The deployment of national cyberinfrastructures leveraging today’s innovative tools and techniques has become increasingly critical to accommodate the researcher’s need to rapidly and securely access, transfer and share large datasets, and collaborate across multiple institutions. Australia, like other countries across the world, is enhancing its national cyberinfrastructure to address these challenges and opportunities.
AARNet operated a successful proof-of-concept with representatives from six universities trialing Globus. One recent successful deployment to date has been within the Characterisation community in Australia where large analytical sample data is required to be processed at computing facilities. Globus endpoints were established between major Characterisation and computing facilities located in different states. Globus provided the researchers with a secure, unified interface for accessing their research data, and managed the details of the data transfers between the facilities and across institutions. For the researchers, this solution addressed some of the complex technical challenges typically associated with packaging up large-scale datasets so that they can be easily and efficiently transferred between facilities and institutions over high-speed research networks like AARNet.
“Helping researchers solve complex data movement challenges is a key part of what we do at AARNet and partnering with organisations such as Globus helps us to do this,” said Carina Kemp, AARNet Director, eResearch. “What is great about the Globus service is that it streamlines the process of transferring huge research datasets between instruments, computing and institutions over the AARNet high-speed network, making data more readily accessible to researchers. For the researchers using characterisation techniques this also means that they can concentrate on their research, such as investigating cures for diseases and saving lives, rather than worrying about data transfers.”
“We’re thrilled to welcome AARNet as a partner and look forward to making the advanced data management capabilities of Globus available to researchers countrywide”, said Vas Vasiliadis, Globus chief customer officer at the University of Chicago.
AARNet is the latest national cyberinfrastructure provider to subscribe to Globus, joining Compute Canada in Canada, NeSI in New Zealand, and NICIS in South Africa.
Learn more about how Globus Enables National Cyberinfrastructures
About Globus
Globus is a platform for research data management, used by leading non-profit and commercial research organizations, national laboratories, and government facilities worldwide. Operated by the University of Chicago, the Globus service enables secure, reliable file transfer, sharing, and data management automation throughout the research lifecycle. The service is integrated into data portals, science gateways, and other web applications that manage data distribution from instruments and provide access to reference datasets. Globus is supported by subscribers and funding from the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Sloan Foundation. Visit globus.org.
