Advanced Research Computing (ARC) launch the BEAR Data Transfer Service this week. This service enables researchers to transfer large volumes of data between research organisations, using bulk data shipping technology.
How does it work?
The software running the service is called Globus – also known as GridFTP, depending on which research organisation the researcher is from. Organisations involved include:
- Diamond Light Source
- RAL
- Crick Institute
- EMBL-EBI
Data is transferred between two Globus endpoints, or “Data Transfer Nodes”. The service is connected to both Research Data Store (RDS) and CaStLeS storage and is available to researchers who are registered on BEAR Projects with associated storage. BEAR Data Transfer is different to BEAR Data Share, which is intended for working and small data sharing requirements.
How does this apply to me?
Many of us in IT Services are in contact with researchers across the University on a regular basis. We want to make sure the message gets through to them about this new service.
If you come across a researcher who would benefit from the BEAR Data Transfer Service, let them know. Researchers at the University will need a BEAR project, which they can easily register for, before they can use the service.
Provided the researcher has a BEAR project, they can access BEAR Data Transfer via app.globus.org – they’ll need to use federated login via Shibboleth to access the service.
Help and support
The ARC team are on hand to provide support; if a researcher asks you for advice, please signpost them to the Service Desk. They’ll need to raise a call using the “Research/Other BEAR” fault.
Find out more
If you’d like to know more about the BEAR Data Transfer Service, let us know – we’d be happy to show you how it works.
Find out more on our intranet pages https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/bear-data-transfer