The ELIXIR Compute Platform was established in 2015 to build and integrate cloud, compute, storage and access services for the life-science research community.
Today, thousands of science laboratories across the world generate massive amounts of data that they make available to collaborators directly or place in public archives for open access. In this situation, the traditional method of a researcher downloading and analysing data locally is no longer viable due to both the data size and scope of the analysis activities.
The data needs to be managed as a federation, where data providers work as a single infrastructure providing mechanisms where researchers can bring their analysis to where the data is located. The ELIXIR Compute Platform infrastructure will allow life scientists to easily access, share and analyse data from different sources across Europe.
The objective is to combine all components of the ELIXIR Compute services into a seamless workflow. A researcher may use the ELIXIR Authorisation and Authentication services to securely create a scientific software analysis environment, and use the environment to access large biological data resources stored in a cloud.
Services offered
Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure (AAI)
- Provides a user access and identity management service for academia and industry.
- Allows users to consolidate their different online identities (university ID, Google ID, ORCID ID) into one identity.
- For accessing sensitive data, it provides REMS (Resource Entitlement Management System), an electronic tool where a researcher needs to apply for approval by the resource provider.
- To start using the service, see the AAI web page or email aai-contact [at] elixir-europe.org.
What the Platform does
- Develops services in three areas: authentication and authorisation, storage and data transfer, and cloud and computing resources (see below).
- Gathers requirements from the ELIXIR community and passes them to existing services provided by the ELIXIR Nodes and their partners, and by the European e-Infrastructures (i.e. EGI, EUDAT, GÉANT, EOSC, Helix Nebula Science Cloud). This ensures the services are relevant to ELIXIR community.
- Integrates Compute Platform services into the e-Infrastructure services, so the Platform services are available to the European e-Infrastructure community.
- Combines ELIXIR Compute services into a seamless workflow using the ELIXIR Authorisation and Authentication Infrastructure (AAI). This enables you to access all services with just one sign-in.
- Works with ELIXIR Communities to ensure the Platform's services fit the needs of specific life science domains.
Task 1. Authentication & Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI) Engagement
Leaders: Mikael Linden (ELIXIR-FI) and Dominik František Bučík (ELIXIR-CZ)
Goal: To engage and network with ELIXIR Nodes in order to encourage and support them to make more use of ELIXIR AAI or Life Science AAI as being supported by EOSC-Life.
Activities:
- Increasing awareness of the AAI services through community engagement.
- Providing AAI training through webinars, on-line training materials and/or face-to-face events to support adoption of ELIXIR AAI or Life Science AAI.
- Helping relying services from the ELIXIR community to integrate to the ELIXIR or Life Science AAI.
Task 2. ELIXIR Hybrid Cloud
Leaders: Matej Antol (ELIXIR-CZ), Alexander Sczyrba (ELIXIR-DE) and Santiago Insua (EMBL-EBI)
Goal: To integrate cloud and compute services across Europe so they can be used in a seamless workflow.
Activities:
- Defining the ELIXIR hybrid cloud ecosystem.
- Determining and establishing the strategic principles and sustainability model for the ELIXIR hybrid cloud ecosystem within EOSC.
- Demonstrating the usability of the task's proposal to set up the cloud ecosystem by running hybrid cloud pilot projects.
Task 3. Container Orchestration
Leaders: Alexander Kanitz (ELIXIR-CH), Alvaro Gonzalez Alvarez (ELIXIR-FI), Justin Clark-Casey (EMBL-EBI), Thanasis Vergoulis (ELIXIR-GR), Michael Crusoe (ELIXIR-NL) and Giacinto Donvito (ELIXIR-IT)
Goal: To enable containers to be deployed and operated at scale across cloud systems through a container orchestration platform in standardised formats.
Activities:
- Coordinating the establishment of an ELIXIR service for executing containerised software workflows developed by the Tools and Compute Platform ecosystem.
- Engaging users and providing support for the container orchestration platform at ELIXIR nodes initially and European e-Infrastructures at later stages.
- Creating web portals with general information, technical documentation, and support forums.
Commissioned Services
The Compute Platform is involved in a number of short-term, technical projects called Commissioned Services. These are currently:
- AAI engagement
- ELIXIR Hybrid Cloud
- Container Orchestration
- Making container services integratable, sustainable and widely adopted
For completed studies see the Commissioned Services page.
Leadership
(ELIXIR Czech Republic)
Platform Lead
(ELIXIR Finland)
Platform Lead
(ELIXIR Germany)
Platform Lead
(ELIXIR Hub)
Platform Coordinator
Gavin Farrell
(ELIXIR Hub)
Platform Officer
Find out more
- Contact: if you'd like to know more about the Platform's work please email:
compute-exco [at] elixir-europe.org. - Compute Platform overview brochure (updated 2020)
- View the list of Compute services offered by ELIXIR Nodes.
