Data management and sharing
eResearch holds three key implications for data management:
Data storage
Wrestling with large quantities of data is a common, contemporary research experience.
Some researchers handle data files that are simply too big to back-up on desktop computers. Others face the challenge of sharing data across distributed locations. All researchers need to solve the archiving dilemma: where and how should archived data be stored, and how should access be controlled?
By simply dragging and dropping files from your computer to the local node of eResearch SA's data repository network drive, you can back-up your research to one secure, central, and easy to access location. Access control functionality helps you and your research team manage who has access to data files, and provides data security in a shared environment.
eResearch techniques for data storage can also streamline the task of archiving material. Old and infrequently used data can be archived to tape, leaving more room on the active disks for new, high traffic data. Archived data is automatically retrievable, simplifying what can otherwise be a matter of searching through stacks of old hard drives, CD-ROMs, or boxes of paper files.
Date stamps on data files provide evidence of the providence of data, and allow researchers to browse through their archived material by time.
In South Australia, researchers have access to the South Australian Sustainable Repository (SASR), which provides free for moderate use centralised data storage for university researchers.
Once on board with eResearch SA, many researchers discover they are in an excellent position to take advantage of other eResearch SA data management resources, such as super computers for complex data processing and advanced collaboration tools for data sharing.
Data processing
eResearch techniques for data processing have opened up new possibilities for data mining and analysis. High speed networks move data to super computers which perform data processing tasks that desktop machines cannot handle.
Shared access to high performance computing infrastructure enables researchers to capitalise on equipment that would otherwise be beyond their own institutions' resources. Some research projects require access to super computers infrequently or only for very large and complex analysis tasks, making the sharing of networked resources a logical economy, as well as a practical necessity.
eResearch SA has three supercomputers that are available for complex jobs that require large amounts of memory and processing power.
Data sharing
Advances in networking technologies and applications have made it possible for researchers to work in a distributed fashion without leaving their desks, enabling collaboration with other researchers from across the globe, across the country, and across the street.
Technologies that facilitate web and video conferencing continue to expand research collaboration possibilities, while the infrastructure available for data sharing continues to improve access to research conducted outside researchers' immediate environments.
Centralised data repositories, high speed networks, and web-based collaboration tools like Sakai facilitate integration and manipulation of data from different locations around the world, or sending data to a processing facility across town as well as sharing data in controlled ways within and across research teams and institutions.