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BioHPC is a cloud-type computational resource configured for biologists. It is targeted for researchers who want to learn the Linux operating system, and do bioinformatics data analysis themselves.


BioHPC is part of the Bioinformatics Facility, one of the core facilities of the Biotechnology Resource Center (BRC), part of the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology. BioHPC has previously been known as the Computational Biology Service Unit (CBSU).


Accounts BioHPC accounts are available to Cornell researchers and their collaborators, as well as employees/researchers from upstate NY universities and companies. You can request a BioHPC account here.
Rental servers BioHPC currently has 93 Linux servers that can be reserved using our calendar-based online scheduler. The servers have a wide range of computing capacities, with between 12 - 128 cores, RAM ranging from 48 GB to 1.0 TB, and up to 37 TB local hard drive storage. There are 7 GPU servers available to rent, and many of our servers have fast NVMe storage. A detailed list of hardware configurations is available on our hardware infrastructure page. To rent a server, you will need a BioHPC credit account.
Hosted servers Hosted servers are owned by a research group, and managed by BioHPC. BioHPC staff will be happy to help you choose appropriate hardware, obtain a quote, and purchase a server. Hosted servers are configured just like rental servers, with the same access to software and network storage, but with a permanent reservation for group members. Group membership can be managed through our webpage. BioHPC currently manages 163 hosted servers.
Storage Each user associated with an active BioHPC Credit Account or hosted server gets 200GB free storage space, which is network-mounted to all BioHPC machines. Local storage attached to rental/hosted machines is always free to use during the duration of a machine reservation. Additional networked storage can be purchased for $105.00 per 1TB per year. We also have a back-up storage service available.
Software We make an effort to honor software installation requests, and have an extensive list of software installed in the BioHPC cloud, described in detail on our lab software page. There are also a limited number of commercial software available through the floating licenses maintained by the Biotechnology Resource Center (BRC).
Support BioHPC organizes workshops to teach various aspects of bioinformatics data analysis. Additionally, we offer free office hours to help BioHPC users get started using our system. You can also also contact us by email with questions/problems/requests.
Other services For existing customers, we also offer VM and website hosting, as well as customized bioinformatics support/consulting. See our price list for rates, and contact us for more details.
Fees BioHPC is a fee-based service system, users need to purchase compute units in order to make reservations, or pay an annual maintenance fee for hosted servers. Here is our current price list.
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