ACADEMIA
University of North Florida wins Congressional appropriation for improved IT infrastructure
The University of North Florida's Information Technology Services recently received a congressional directed appropriation in the amount of $750,000 to support a much-needed cloud supercomputing and cybersecurity infrastructure initiative.
The enhanced virtual cloud supercomputing infrastructure will address the need to create a scalable secure learning and research environment for UNF students, faculty, and staff. The project will benefit both traditional and non-traditional students by providing a consistent set of tools, software, security, and a level of interactivity with faculty during their academic career at UNF.
It will provide the UNF community with access to secure campus lab computers and systems from any location; enhance existing computer and research labs; allow university resources to be utilized anytime, anywhere, in a device-agnostic environment; and provide the tools students need to build real-world systems while providing faculty the ability to closely monitor and assist students both on and off campus.
The new virtual infrastructure will allow cyber security instruction, research, and operations in a controlled and scalable environment. The environment will seamlessly allow remote access to software restricted to running on university-owned hardware. In addition, it will provide remote control of a dedicated machine for student assignments and projects.
Using this technology, UNF will be able to utilize pools of available computers to work together to solve a common problem, as in a supercomputing cluster or a Google-like indexing and search task. Additionally, this environment and service will offload the need for students to continually upgrade their computers to handle demanding assignments and projects. Students will be able to use software or hardware when classroom computers are not powerful enough.