Hi Cinly,

Thanks for the Expert input.
May be I should be more specific about our storage needs.
What I was talking is about is storage of some 100TB of data for a project of 5 years. We will occasionally need to analyze data from there, lets say, maximum 100GB at a time. We have the server for the analysis, so we won't need a cloud for that. I was thinking that hosting the data on the cloud and occasionally downloading some of it for analysis locally may be a good solution.  I'm not an IT person so your opinion on this is valuable to me.
Also, is there a specific cloud service you could recommend for me to look into?

Thanks!


On Tue, Nov 19, 2013 at 9:51 AM, Cinly Ooi <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Illana, Chris

[conflict of interest statement: I also double as inhouse IT specialist at work]

With cloud services, you basically outsourced a big chunk of your IT/computing grunt work at a cost. In theory it is good for an neuroimaging lab because their expertise is not in IT/computing. It is definitely a good candidate for outsourcing for most lab. And yes, from what I had seen, they manage hardware and support better than a lot of labs, although I won't say most labs.

Privacy issue can be solved by choosing the correct service and to ensure appropriate protection is in place. This includes secure data transmission, using on a service which guarantees nobody can see the data except you (most services do that) and cloud that have appropriate measures in place, e.g., encrypting the data on storage devices. Increasingly, it is safe to say that cloud provider do a better service protecting privacy than a lot of people who simply have a hard disk storing fMRI data.

I think the biggest hurdle is to justify the cost. Mainly in buying storage space. fMRI data is notorious for being big storage hog.  A case can be built easily to justify paying for storage when one is actively analyzing the data, but difficult to justify keeping them on the cloud when you had ceased analyzing it. Once you stop paying the data will be wiped, and how long can you keep up the payment? Thus, for long term archiving and storage, cloud to me is a no-no. Unless you can find one that specialize in long term storage, e.g., put your data into a salt mine for 30 years but also allow you limited periodic access for a fee upfront .

If you are going to be actively analyzing the data, a misconception is the support will be better. It depends on what you buy. A lot simply provides storage space and computing time and leave the rest to you. It is just like giving your computer to courier who will then plug it into a server farm for you to access remotely. For that you are don't get any support beyond making sure that your "computer" is humming nicely and connected to the wider internet. You have to install your own software etc. Everything is also chargeable, want a website? extra $$$. If you start getting fancy on your computing need, e.g. need to open a communication channel to somewhere, that is when all the headache start.

It is normally no replacement for having in house IT expertise [Note my disclaimer on top of the email]. However, when used correctly, cloud can save money by allowing you to make better use of your inhouse IT expertise.


HTH
Cinly


Best Regards,
Cinly

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On 19 November 2013 07:13, Ilana Podlipsky <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi Chris,

I'm not sure I agree with you on that. Good cloud services offer backup and have much better maintenance and support for their storage hardware than most labs can afford. So for the long run a cloud may be more safe then keeping data on hard disks in the sys admin room, or even worse, in the drawer of each student.
In any case each student has a backup of the data he's currently working on. I was talking about a long term archiving solution for data of old experiments or data that is collected for future use.

Ilana


On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 6:04 PM, Watson, Christopher <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I would recommend using a local backup solution instead. I would *not* trust anyone but myself with my lab's data. Using a cloud service might also create a headache in terms of private patient information. Anonymization of the data might be enough to fix that, though.

Chris
________________________________________
From: SPM (Statistical Parametric Mapping) [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Ilana Podlipsky [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, November 18, 2013 6:46 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [SPM] cloud storage of fMRI data

Hi All,

We are looking for an archive and storage solution for our fMRI data.
I was wondering if any of you are using cloud storage services to archive your lab's fMRI data.
If so, I'd love to hear your experience with it. Is that even feasible? What kind of cloud would you recommend to use?

Thanks for the help
Ilana