SURF Consultancy

Why ict consulting for research?

When using our data and computing services you get support. We install the necessary software on our systems, provide access and solve problems when using it. For more extensive challenges, we offer you consultancy on a project basis. Our consultants are happy to bring their expertise and practical experience to your project. Training on-demand and on-site are also possible.

Areas of expertise SURF

We offer expertise in the following ict areas:

• optimising software
• designing and setting up computing facilities
• data infrastructure
• big data
• fast connections to and from SURF systems
• visualisation

Optimising software for HPC systems

We optimise software for HPC systems through single core optimisation, parallelisation and scalability support. With extensive knowledge of supercomputer architectures and programming models, we ensure that your applications take maximum advantage of the power of our HPC systems. This is essential to make the most of the enhanced performance of modern HPC systems, including the development of specific research software.

Setting up computing facilities

Setting up computing facilities requires expertise in HPC systems for computing and data storage, as well as knowledge of architecture solutions for desired performance and service management. With our experience, we offer advice on strategies for data access and processing, including porting applications to other systems and scaling them up in distributed computing infrastructure.

Data infrastructure

Our Data Services group, with extensive experience in managing data storage infrastructure for research communities, advises on managing the data explosion. We offer expertise in the challenges of long-term preservation and data management tools, and advise on the optimal set-up of your data infrastructure. This support is provided in collaboration with ResearchData NL, including 3TU.Data Centre and DANS.

Big data

Selecting suitable frameworks or tools for big data analysis is complex. SURF helps you make the right choices from the start of your project. We also support you in setting up a scalable and cost-effective solution, with expertise in various areas, including streaming analytics, (no)SQL data storage, container-based solutions, serverless architectures, and more.

Customised network connectivity

Network services are integral in larger projects, including consultancy on customised network connectivity. If your researcher needs a custom connection, such as lightpaths in addition to the regular internet, we offer consultancy and provide the necessary network connectivity for your specific application.

Visualisation

Our visualisation experts support the development and enhancement of your visualisation software, including large-scale scientific visualisations and high-resolution visualisations with tiled-panel displays. We offer assistance with remote visualisation, streaming visualisations over a network, and implementations with tools such as Google Earth, Google Maps, VTK, OpenGL, and more.