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Facility for Advanced Computing (FAC)
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How to Request Access
The Facility for Advanced Computing (FAC) provides researchers with secure, affordable, and scalable data storage and computing options.
This page highlights the process for requesting and obtaining data storage and computing services from the Facility for Advanced Computing.
About the Facility for Advanced Computing
The Facility for Advanced Computing (FAC) at UCSF, managed by UCSF Academic Research Services, provides secure, affordable, and scalable data storage and computing. The FAC supports a range of needs to enable researchers to meet their objectives: diverse storage offerings, server hosting, network isolation and computing services. FAC Capacity Storage is available April 1, 2025. Virtual Machines and BaS physical servers will be available Fall 2025.
| Secure | The FAC implements protocols to secure your data, including encryption, identity management, firewalls, and regular security updates. All services are compliant with UC security policies and secure for P1-P4 data, ensuring confidentiality and data integrity. |
| Cost Effective | Pay only for the resources you use monthly, with clear reports to track usage and costs. |
| Scalable | Set up services quickly with self-service VMs, adding or removing users as needed. |
| Reliable | Rest assured, the FAC ensures high availability with robust disaster recovery to maintain reliability and continuity. |
Services
Data Storage
Learn how Core HPC and the FAC work together.
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. More
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 More
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 More
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 More
Shared Operational Responsibilities
Operating under a shared responsibility model with IT and the research community, the FAC and IT partners handle some tasks, you manage others, and certain duties are shared, with clear assignments for each. The FAC will manage the technical setup and maintenance of the supporting infrastructure, including configuring virtual machines and storage. You are responsible for installing, securing, and managing the software and applications on these systems. For detailed information, refer to the User Expectations and Shared Operational Responsibilities.
Interested in FAC solutions?
Current customer in need of assistance?
- Service Manager: Rhett Hillary
- Service Owner Team: ITS ARS Level3 Apps
- Service Support Team: ITS ARS Level3 Apps
- Audience: Affiliate, Researcher, Staff, Student
- Service Category: Research Services