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What is cloud computing?

This post summarises cloud computing and why it might be useful to researchers.

Why are we using the cloud at this bootcamp?

The cloud is a useful tool for our workshops because (a) at regular computing workshops (e.g. Software Carpentry or Data Carpentry workshops) a lot of time is wasted dealing with software installation issues, and (b) tools like the UNIX Shell look and behave slightly differently depending on which operating system you're using (i.e. Windows, Mac OS X or Linux), which can be confusing for beginners. By using the cloud we can setup a bunch of computers with exactly the same operating system and with the software already installed.

"DIT4C" on the NeCTAR Reasearch Cloud

The Research Bazaar project is funding an initiative called Data Intensive Tools for the Cloud (DIT4C), which aims to get researchers using the NeCTAR Research Cloud. Any researcher at an Australian university can apply for access to the NeCTAR Research Cloud, however for the purposes of this workshop we'll be using a DIT4C interface designed specifically for Software Carpentry and Data Carpentry activies. To access the enviroment, head to this URL:

https://dit4c.metadata.net/

Notes on the DIT4C cloud environment:

  • The DIT4C environment comes with Nano for text editing at the command line, but no text editor like Notepad++, Kate or TextWrangler. A good tutorial for beginners to Nano can be found here.
  • On a Mac, command``+ doesn't work for zooming in the shell environment. Instead, hold down control and scroll with the mouse
  • In Firefox and Safari, cut and paste doesn't work in the shell terminal. Chrome and Internet Explorer are fine.

Useful resources

If you're going to be doing a lot of remote computing as part of your research (on a supercomputer or in the cloud), Software Carpentry also has a short lesson on working remotely.