Cloud Computing with ARDC
Powered by the Nectar Research Cloud infrastructure, ARDC’s national cloud computing services support research computing across all domains – wherever you are, at no cost to you.
- Data analysis and AI/ML workflows at scale
- Secure, accessible research data storage
- Host research platforms and online portals
- Develop and share reproducible research software
- Cross-institutional collaboration on shared infrastructure
What Cloud Computing Services Does ARDC Provide?
From data analysis and storage to writing and running code, computational work is integral to modern research.
Powered by the infrastructure of our Nectar Research Cloud, ARDC provides a wide range of cloud-based, flexible research computing services to meet your and your team’s needs. ARDC’s cloud computing services can be used for all fields of research, at different scales and from any location.
Not sure which services meet your needs? Compare our cloud computing services or chat with our cloud computing support team, which has helped thousands of researchers.
Which ARDC Cloud Computing Services Best Suit Your Needs?
Nectar Research Cloud
Work with data and software collaboratively at all scales
Virtual Desktop Service
Your extra personal computer with one of 7 operating systems and useful apps pre-installed
Jupyter Notebook Service
Develop code and computational output with formatted, interactive explanatory text and multimedia in pre-configured environments
BinderHub Service
Make code repositories shareable, executable and reproducible
Why Use ARDC’s Cloud Computing Services?
ARDC’s cloud computing services are provided at no cost to eligible researchers with dedicated support from a team of experts. Over 30,000 people have used our cloud computing services in 7,000 projects spanning all research fields at different scales.
See how ARDC’s cloud computing services accelerate research and hear from our users.
Professor Rod Connolly uses the ARDC Nectar Research Cloud for AI-powered monitoring of beach usage on the Gold Coast.
Professor Rod Connolly
FishID, and Coastal and Marine Research Centre, Griffith University
Dr Steffen Bollmann and Aswin Narayanan led the development of Neurodesk, an award-winning platform for analysing neuroimaging data that can be run on the ARDC Virtual Desktop Service.
Dr Steffen Bollmann
Aswin Narayanan
National Imaging Facility Informatics Fellow, The University of Queensland
Sharon Tickell maintains eReefs, a platform for research into the Great Barrier Reef that’s partly hosted on the ARDC Nectar Research Cloud.
Sharon Tickell
CSIRO
Simon Musgrave uses the ARDC Jupyter Notebook Service to teach digital research skills in the humanities.
Simon Musgrave
Language Data Commons of Australia (LDaCA)
ARDC has empowered tens of thousands of Australian researchers through cloud computing since 2012.
ARDC and Cloud Computing
Since 2012, ARDC has provided national cloud computing resources through our Nectar Research Cloud at no cost to Australian researchers.
Known then as the National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources, the Nectar project was established in 2009 through the Australian Government’s Super Science initiative, financed by the Education Investment Fund. In 2013, it began being funded through the Australian Government Department of Education’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). In 2018, the Nectar project became part of ARDC.
With our partners, ARDC continues to develop our cloud computing services, including by investing in GPUs, enhancing cybersecurity and launching new services. ARDC is committed to providing Australian researchers with a competitive edge through cloud computing.
StartCloud Computing
with ARDCToday.
Access ARDC’s cloud-based services for powerful, scalable research computing at no cost to you.
Compare our servicesWho Can Use ARDC’s Cloud Computing Services?
ARDC’s cloud computing services are for researchers and research professionals from all fields.
If you have an Australian institutional login, you can use or try ARDC’s cloud computing services instantly. If you’re from New Zealand and have a University of Auckland login, you can also access our cloud computing services. Your project partners may also be able to access our cloud computing services.
Access to ARDC’s cloud computing services is enabled by the Australian Access Federation (AAF) and Tuakiri.
We welcome acknowledgement of your use of ARDC’s cloud computing services. Acknowledging ARDC supports our ongoing sustainability. Find out how to acknowledge us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Both cloud computing and high-performance computing (HPC) provide powerful computing, but they serve different needs.
HPC facilities, like the National Computational Infrastructure and the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, are designed for massive or parallel processing tasks. Examples include running weather simulations over a few hours or days.
In contrast, ARDC’s cloud services are ideal for scalable, on-demand and interactive computational tasks. Examples include hosting online data portals and interactive data analysis.
Watch our webinar on choosing between cloud computing and HPC:
ARDC’s cloud computing services are designed for research and have been used in thousands of research projects. They are provided to eligible researchers and research professionals from all fields at no cost. ARDC also has a team of experts with years of experience in research cloud computing, continually enhancing our services and always ready to help meet your research cloud computing needs.
As long as you have an Australian institutional login enabled by the Australian Access Federation (AAF), you can instantly and at no cost:
- access the Virtual Desktop Service, the Jupyter Notebook Service and the BinderHub Service
- try the Nectar Research Cloud for up to 6 months and 2 virtual CPUs.
If you require more resources from Nectar Research Cloud for a longer period, you can apply for a project allocation through the Nectar Dashboard. Learn more.
No. Many of ARDC’s cloud computing services are designed to be readily accessible through your web browser with minimal configuration. The Nectar Research Cloud offers more advanced capabilities, but ARDC provides extensive online documentation, guides, training and live support to assist our cloud computing users. Visit the ARDC cloud computing support centre.
Yes. You can share access to computational resources, data and software with your team within and across institutions, even globally.
If you work at an Australian institution enabled by the Australian Access Federation (AAF) yourself, your partners may be able to request an AAF-enabled login from your organisation and use that to access ARDC’s cloud computing services. Please check with your institution.
Cybersecurity and data sovereignty are integral to ARDC’s cloud computing services. ARDC’s cloud computing services are hosted across a network of Australian universities and research organisations, which means your data remains onshore in Australia.
Note that ARDC’s cloud computing services are not suitable for certain types of sensitive data. To learn more about using ARDC’s cloud computing services for sensitive data and fing alternative services supported by ARDC, read our guide on sensitive data and Nectar.
