About Campus CI

From Cidays

First let's tackle Cyberinfrastructure (CI) in general. We think of CI as a distributed computer with computation, storage, input/output, software, and management all at different locations, using the network as its backplane. The different pieces and functions of the computer are provided and used by many people in many different locations, and as such, combine to form a complex system. With the aid of good user management tools, user interfaces and workflows, the complexity is largely hidden from the researcher.

Campus CI would then be a "distributed computer" shared campus-wide or among certain departments. It may consist of campus computing facilities shared with other campuses or with a regional or national CI. There is no single definition!

CI can encompasses a range of support resources for the people that use it - including training, consulting and collaboration tools that allow the multiple locations to work smoothly together. Another aspect is the coordination and formatting of data so that it may be shared within and between research disciplines.

Benefits of CI:

• Is focused on sharing and making greater capabilities available across the science and engineering research communities
• Allows applications to interoperate across institutions and disciplines
• Ensures that data and software acquired at great expense are preserved and easily available to all
• Empowers enhanced collaboration over distance and across disciplines.

Also see The value of campus scale from the UW Madison campus grid.