In the US, the National Center for Atmospheric News (NCAR) are using Globus Plus to increase data access and forge stronger collaborations. They’ve also upgraded their central file service, known as the Globally Accessible Data Environment (GLADE).

Globus, a project of the Computation Institute (a partnership of The University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory), is essentially a “dropbox for big data”. It’s a software service for sharing massive datasets. The “Plus” version includes a new feature which allows internal researchers to share data with colleagues outside of their home institutions, vastly increasing the number of opportunities for collaboration.

“Scientific collaborations are global endeavors, and researchers need to share data with colleagues around the world. As data sets have grown in size and number, the process of moving and managing access to them has become a significant challenge,” said Pam Gillman, manager of NCAR’s Data Analysis Services Group. “Globus Plus is a robust and user-friendly service that eases the workflow, and it allows users to be more productive by spending less time on the minutiae of data transfers.”

Globus Plus can process up to 1.5 petabytes of data, and also allows users of CISL’s HPC environment to fine tune which users and groups and have access to which data, taking the data security risk out of external collaboration.

“We strive to meet the growing needs of our user community, which expand as the data sets grow and require greater and more efficient resources,” said Gillman. “These major upgrades are part of CISL’s ongoing commitment to giving users the tools and services they need to carry out cutting-edge computational research.”

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(Image credit: NCAR)