Hosting Options
CSE-IT provides hosting for research and instructional projects on a variety of platforms. Your IT Service Coordinator, or a member of our Research Support team, are available for consultation.
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Managed Hardware
- A physical server hosted in a CSE datacenter for which CSE-IT provides full support including power, cooling, network, and operating system.
- Staff will work with you to select the best supportable hardware, and to customize your server, operating system, and software.
Choose When You Need:
- Specialized hardware for research or instruction, such as a specific CPU or GPU.
- A server supported by CSE-IT.
- Access to CSE-IT-provided computing resources, such as project space.
- CSE-IT will backup managed data, such as home directories and project space.
Disadvantages
- Available on a limited basis.
- You are responsible for initial and replacement hardware costs.
- No administrative access to your server(s).
- Takes time to set up.
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Self-Managed Hardware
- A physical server hosted in a CSE datacenter for which CSE-IT provides support limited to hardware, power, cooling, and network.
- Staff will work with you to select hardware that is appropriate for our datacenters and your intended use.
- Staff will install an operating system of your choice, and will reinstall your OS on request.
- You are responsible for configuring the operating system and all software components.
Prerequisites
- System and/or server administration expertise.
Choose When You Need:
- Specialized hardware for research or instruction, such as a specific CPU or GPU.
- Administrative access to your server.
- Something that CSE does not provide.
Disadvantages
- Available on a limited basis.
- CSE-IT does not support your server.
- You are responsible for initial and replacement hardware costs.
- You are responsible for the maintenance, configuration, accessibility, and security of your server and its content.
- You are responsible for backing up your data on a continuous basis.
- You are responsible for ensuring your content complies with University of Minnesota policies including:
- No access to CSE-IT-provided computing resources, such as project space.
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Managed Virtual Machine
- A virtual machine hosted on a CSE VMWare cluster and managed by CSE-IT.
- Staff will work with you to create a VM with the CPU, memory, storage, and network resources appropriate for your needs.
- Staff will configure the operating system and any software you need.
Choose When You Need:
- A virtual server with up to:
- 8 CPUs
- 128 GB primary (OS disk) storage
- 128 GB secondary storage
- A server supported by CSE-IT.
- Access to CSE-IT-provided computing resources, such as project space.
- CSE-IT will backup managed data, such as home directories and project space.
- A server that can be replaced and upgraded without additional costs.
Disadvantages
- No administrative access to your server.
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Self-Managed Virtual Machine
- A virtual machine that is hosted on CSE-IT’s VMWare cluster.
- Staff will work with you to create a virtual machine with the CPU, memory, storage, and network resources appropriate for your needs.
- Staff will install an operating system of your choice, and will reinstall your OS on request.
- You are responsible for configuring the operating system and all software components.
Prerequisites
- System and/or server administration expertise.
Choose When You Need:
- A virtual server with up to:
- 8 CPUs
- 128 GB primary (OS disk) storage
- 128 GB secondary storage
- Something that CSE does not provide.
Disadvantages
- Virtual resources—such as CPU and memory—are dedicated to your virtual machine, but they come from a pool that is limited in size. Thus there are limits on the size of a virtual machine.
- CSE-IT does not support your server.
- You are responsible for the maintenance, configuration, accessibility, and security of your server and its content.
- You are responsible for backing up your data on a continuous basis.
- You are responsible for ensuring your content complies with University of Minnesota policies including:
- No access to CSE-IT-provided computing resources, such as project space.
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External Cloud Virtual Machine
- A virtual machine that is hosted on an external cloud service provider, such as AWS or Microsoft Azure, that you install, manage and configure, with financial authorization provided by the Office of Information Technology (OIT).
- This is currently the only cloud-hosted service that CSE-IT provides.
Choose When You Need:
- Cloud services.
- EFS string payment processing through OIT.
Disadvantages
- Available with restrictions.
- CSE-IT does not support your machine.
- No access to CSE-IT-provided computing resources, such as project space.
Request Hosting
Contact CSE-IT to schedule a consultation.