Research

Research Services

Services supporting the institution’s research activities, including specialized storage and computation, high-performance computing (HPC), visualization, and lab-management systems.
Research

Consultation

The primary focus of Research & Cyberinfrastructure is understanding the needs of faculty and researchers. We do this through a facilitation process. We want to understand your needs so we can connect you with the Cyberinfrastructure (software, computing, visualization, and data resources) you need to advance your work. We offer consultation services for system architecture and design for both on-premises as well as cloud solutions. Our team is also prepared to assist in connecting to local, regional, and national resources. In addition, our team will partner with your College IT and the IT Security Office to ensure your security and compliance needs are being met.

Research

Research-Specific Computing & Applications

High-Performance Computing

VERNE (Visionary, Education, Research, Network Environment): High-performance computing resource available for instruction operated by the Research & Cyberinfrastructure group. VERNE is part of the National Research Platform’s Nautilus hyper-cluster. Managed JupyterHub instances provide access to many common software packages, including: Python (PyTorch, TensorFlow), Julia, R, RStudio, SageMath, MATLAB, Linux Desktop. Faculty and students can access JupyterHub with their SDSUid once they’ve been granted access to the system.

The Research & Cyberinfrastructure team can create custom software containers with required software if our pre-built containers do not meet instructional needs. For more advanced, non-JupyterHub use cases the team can work with you to run container workloads.

TIDE (Technology Infrastructure for Data Exploration): High-performance computing resource available for research operated by the Research & Cyberinfrastructure group. TIDE is part of the National Research Platform’s Nautilus hyper-cluster. The TIDE hardware is housed at SDSU and available to CSU faculty and researchers providing access to advanced CPU, GPU accelerators, and storage. Managed JupyterHub instances provide access to many common software packages, including Python (PyTorch, TensorFlow), Julia, R, RStudio, SageMath, MATLAB, Linux Desktop. These resources can easily be accessed using your SDSUid credentials.

ACCESS: NSF-backed project that provides allocation-based access to many national computing resources including advanced super computers. The Research & Cyberinfrastructure group can provide consultation to help you understand the ACCESS allocation request process and assist with guidance on the available resources.

Computational Science Research Center (CSRC): Promotes development and advancement of the interdisciplinary subject of computational science. This is accomplished by fostering research, developing educational programs, and promoting industrial interaction, outreach, and partnership activities. The center facilitates the interaction between applied mathematics, computer science, and the sciences by providing the necessary infrastructure for productive research efforts.

Research

Research Data Services

Campus Cyberinfrastructure Plan: The National Science Foundation (NSF) requires a Campus Cyberinfrastructure Plan for certain Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CC*) solicitations. SDSU maintains and updates its Campus Cyberinfrastructure Plan annually and is available for download.

Globus: Globus which is a data management solution that offers fast, secure and reliable data transfer. SDSU is licensed for Globus High Assurance, which includes a BAA for HIPAA data. In addition, SDSU has both Google Drive and Amazon Web Services (AWS) S3 storage connectors.

Google Drive/Shared Drives: SDSU’s Google Workspaces offers secure storage of research data. Google Drive and Google Shared Drives with appropriate safeguards can be used to house PII/PL1/HIPAA data.

REDCap: Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) is a web-based application developed by Vanderbilt University to capture data for clinical research and create databases and projects. SDSU offers two instances of REDCap for different use cases.

Research Data Services: The Research Data Services group in the SDSU Library offers assistance with research data needs. In addition, the Research Data Services maintains a list of third-party services that offer data services for storing.

Qualtrics: Qualtrics is an online survey tool where users can build and distribute surveys, collect responses, and even analyze response data, all from within the same platform.

Research

Research Software

Cloud Computing: The university has contracts with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Contracts provide various discounts over publically available pricing. Costs are recovered under a cost recovery model with either state or foundation funds. The Research & Cyberinfrastructure team can assist researchers with cloud architectures and cost estimates for research projects.

GitHub for Campus: GitHub is a popular git repository hosting service where anyone can upload their code and collaborate with others. Git and GitHub are industry standard tools for source code version control and collaboration. Research & Cyberinfrastructure has applied to the GitHub for Campus program which will give instructors and students access to some of GitHub’s most popular features for free.

Secure Cloud Enclave: SDSU operates a secure Amazon Web Services (AWS) Landing Zone that provides AWS accounts with many NIST 800-171 compliance controls in place. For workloads that require NIST 800-171 compliance, this environment can be used to meet many of the compliance requirements. The Research & Cyberinfrastructure group in conjunction with the IT Secure Office will work with researchers to architect a compliant environment to meet funding agency requirements. Costs are recovered under a cost recovery model with either state or foundation funds.  

Software Factory: SDSU’s Software Factory is a student-centric team in the Research & Cyberinfrastructure group that focuses on building software containers for use on TIDE and VERNE high-performance computing resources. The Software Factory equips our students with exposure to DevOps practices and industry standard tools for creating and running software containers. Students gain real-world experience from the Software Factory and will be prepared to add value to the workforce upon graduation.

Site-Licensed Software: Several site-licensed software programs are available for instruction and research, supported by our IT Division:

  • EndNote
  • NVivo
  • Statistical Analysis System (SAS)
  • Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)
  • Qualtrics