NoMachine gives scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center dependable access to HPC, data analysis resources

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center can now provide employees with remote access to high-performance computing, data analysis, and administrative resources thanks to NoMachine software. NoMachine allows Center researchers to maintain rigorous research schedules, no matter where they are located.

The Center consists of more than 3,000 staff, including world-renowned scientists and Nobel Laureates, who are dedicated to understanding, treating, and preventing cancer, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, researchers are also spread out at remote sites across North America and Europe. With NoMachine, the Center can connect 250-300 researchers to the high-performance computing (HPC) cluster, with up to 25 users connecting at the same time. 

NoMachine also gives Center researchers access to server-based, administrative applications that are critical to their day-to-day activities, such as Firefox, R language, and Matlab. To simplify support, the Center's supercomputing department cut the organization back to two operating systems. Now, new employees are given a Windows computer. Those who prefer to work with Linux or similar desktops are steered towards Macs with a Linux connection provided by the NoMachine NX Server. 

"We needed a way to offer a Linux desktop interface to a lot of people without giving them each a physical system. This way we can concentrate our support efforts on high-performance computing, instead of desktop support," explained System Administrator Carl Benson. 

NoMachine's NX Enterprise Server and Client software have enabled the scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to remain productive while simplifying desktop support. Whether on site or at a remote location, NoMachine provides a full Linux experience and access to x11 applications for a superior remote experience and easier administration. The software's dependability and session resiliency also make it perfect for researchers who need to monitor projects that may last for months at a time.

"NoMachine is way less hassle, uses fewer resources per session on the server and is reliable," said Benson. "It has more capabilities...it's really excellent."

Read more about the project at www.nomachine.com/hutchinson.php.