Facility for Advanced Computing (FAC)

Questions? Contact Academic Research Systems (ARS)

Overview

Available Spring 2025

The Facility for Advanced Computing (FAC) at UCSF, managed by UCSF IT’s Academic Research Systems, 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
FAC secure, low-cost storage is the go-to standard for frequently accessed and mission-critical data that demands swift retrieval. Storage includes data protection and is designed to meet the diverse needs of labs and departments.

 

FAC Archive Storage
FAC's Archive Storage option will securely store data that is not required for use on a regular basis, such as regulatory compliance data or data that is saved for backup, archival big-data analysis, or disaster recovery purposes. (Available Fall 2025)

 

FAC Virtual Machine (VM)
Virtual Machine hosting option allows labs and departments to optimize their secure computing resources while minimizing hardware and administrative costs.

 

FAC Buy a Server (BaS)
Buy a Server allows researchers the ability to purchase a server and supporting equipment from an IT approved list, while the FAC staff provides a secure, centralized, and observable hosting environment.