Overview
The Facility for Advanced Computing (FAC) at UCSF, managed by Academic Research Services, provides secure, affordable, and scalable data storage and computing services to the university’s researchers.
FAC supports a range of needs, including storage, server hosting, and network isolation, enabling researchers to efficiently meet their objectives. All services are IS3 compliant and secure for P1-P4 data, ensuring the highest levels of confidentiality and data integrity. FAC is designed to meet strict compliance and service standards, ensuring a cost-effective and reliable solution for the UCSF research community.
Offerings
FAC Capacity Storage (Warm) FAC’s secure, low-cost storage is the go-to standard for your frequently accessed and mission-critical data that demands swift retrieval. FAC Capacity Storage offers robust data protection with a thorough disaster recovery plan and backups both on-premises and offsite to keep your data secure, accessible, and reliable. (Available Now)
Archive Storage (Cold) Archive Storage through Enterprise Azure, securely stores data that you don’t access frequently, such as regulatory compliance records, backup data, archival big-data analysis, or disaster recovery information. It enables seamless data transfer from FAC Capacity Storage to Archive Storage with fast retrieval times. (Available Summer 2025)
FAC Virtual Machine (VM)
FAC Virtual Machine hosting allows you to optimize secure computing resources while minimizing hardware and administrative costs. The self-service feature lets you add or remove users as needed. VMs include performance monitoring tools for optimization, reliability, and fast issue resolution, along with network segmentation for enhanced security and control. (Available Fall 2025)
FAC Buy a Server (BaS)
Purchase a physical server and supporting equipment from an IT-approved list, while the FAC provides a secure, centralized, and observable hosting environment. (Note that bringing your own servers on-premises is not permitted.) (Available Fall 2025)