• Electronic Resources: Over 13,000 electronic journals, 170,000 eBooks, and 55 databases.

• Training classes covering topics such as bioinformatics, systematic reviews, writing and publishing, and more.

• Remote access to workstations with specialized bioinformatics, data science, graphic design, and video editing software.

Services

NIH Library services are supported by expert librarians and information specialists at no cost to NIH staff:

• 3D Printing (digital modeling and printing)
• Bibliometric Analysis (customized reports on publication metrics)
• Bioinformatics Support ( access to bioinformatics software and training)
• Data Management & Analysis Support (consultations, training, and software, including statistical resources)
• Digital Production Studio (software and support for audio and video projects)
• Document Delivery (get access to publications)
• Editing (light and medium editing for NIH- and HHS-related work)
• EndNote and Citation Management (software, training, and consultations)
• Literature Searching, Protocol Support, & Systematic Reviews (expert search support)
• Training (attend scheduled classes or request tutorials)
• Translations (written translations of materials and certificates of accuracy for NIH employees and contractors in support of their employment and/or research)
• Writing & Publishing Support (training and consultation services on how to publish successfully)

Customer Benefits

The Biowulf cluster comprises over 105,000 cores communicating over dedicated high-speed networks and utilizing shared file servers. The cluster includes specialized nodes such as GPUs, very large memory nodes, and data transfer nodes. Biowulf cluster users have access to a full suite of scientific applications and databases, including tools for sequence analysis, linkage analysis, phylogenetic analysis, microarray analysis, gene regulation and pathways, computational chemistry, molecular modeling, structural biology, mathematical analysis, proteomics, image analysis, molecular graphics, program development, and scientific databases.

Licensed applications include Mathematica, MATLAB (including many toolboxes), SAS and Gaussian.

Customer Market

This service is available to all NIH intramural personnel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I obtain a Biowulf account?

A: Biowulf accounts require an online application form and approval from an NIH Principal Investigator. Details at https://hpc.nih.gov/docs/accounts.html.

Q: How much does a Biowulf account cost?

A: There is a flat monthly charge for an NIH HPC account. This gives the user access to all of the NIH HPC systems and associated services (i.e. Biowulf, Helix, Sciware etc.). There are no additional charges for CPU or storage usage on Helix, Biowulf, Sciware or any of the HPC Systems. The current charges are detailed at https://hpc.nih.gov/docs/accounts.html#charges

Q: How many CPUs are available to a single user?

A: It depends on how busy Biowulf is, but in general a single user is allowed about 10,000 simultaneous cores (when available). See the current limits at https://hpc.nih.gov/systems/status/ (NIH-only access)

Q: How can I learn how to use Biowulf?

Online self-paced courses include ‘Introduction to Biowulf’ as well as basic courses such as ‘Bash Shell Scripting’ and specialized scientific classes. The HPC staff teach in-person and Zoom classes several times a year, and hold monthly Walk-In Consults where users can get help. All classes, and lecture notes from previous classes, are listed at https://hpc.nih.gov/training/

The Science and Technology Research Infrastructure for Discovery, Experimentation, and Sustainability (STRIDES)

The STRIDES Initiative aims to help NIH and its institutes, centers, and offices (ICOs) accelerate biomedical research by reducing barriers in utilizing commercial cloud services. This initiative aims to harness the power of the cloud to accelerate biomedical discovery. NIH and NIH-funded researchers can take advantage of STRIDES benefits. These key benefits include:

• Professional services—Access to professional service consultations and technical support from the STRIDES Initiative partners.

• Training—Access to training for researchers, data owners, and those supporting the IT infrastructure side of biomedical computing to help ensure optimal use of available tools and technologies.

• Collaborative engagements—Opportunities to explore methods and approaches that may advance NIH’s biomedical research objectives (with scope and milestones of engagements agreed upon separately).

• Discounts on STRIDES Initiative partner services—Favorable pricing on computing, storage, and related cloud services for NIH ICOs and NIH-funded institutions.

Contact Details

Program Manager: Nick Weber, CIT Cloud Services
Email: nick.weber@nih.gov

Senior Cloud Architect: Joshua Stultz, CIT Cloud Services
Email:  joshua.stultz@nih.gov

Client Services Team Lead: Todd Reilly, CIT Cloud Services
Email: todd.reilly@nih.gov

Senior Product Manager & Contract Lead: Sherika Wynter, CIT Cloud Services
Email: sherika.wynter@nih.gov 

STRIDES also offers Cloud Lab!

Cloud Lab is a sandbox-like environment that provides a space to develop in an isolated and secure way. This can be incredibly useful for those with varying levels of cloud experience, allowing researchers to:

• Explore Cloud Consoles
  Researchers can gain an understanding of the look and feel of cloud environments before they jump into a full STRIDES account for research.

• Supplement Cloud Training
  Researchers can use the sandbox to strengthen their understanding of cloud training or follow along with training content in an independent environment.

• Experiment with Simple Cloud Solutions
  Researchers interested in solutions for specific scientific tasks can use the sandbox to build proof of concept or other simple solutions to understand level of effort and other details for production.

• Benchmark Costs
  Testing out different tools and configurations (instance type, sizes, etc.) to optimize research analyses within cost-controlled environments.
  

Visit our Cloud Lab page and the FAQs for additional information. 

New Offering: NIH GitHub Enterprise Solution

NIH GitHub is an approved code storage and versioning solution for researchers, software engineers, and developers across NIH. The product offers a number of NIH-specific features and support that you can’t get from a personal GitHub account, including:

• Technical support from trained staff in each IC,

• The ability to search for repositories and users within and across ICs,

• Automatic retention of NIH data and code when staff, contractors, or fellows leave the NIH,

• Fully customizable configuration options that enable you to control when, how, and with whom to share your code,

• The ability to easily move existing code into the NIH environment,

• A fully inheritable FISMA Low Authorization to Operate (ATO),

• Convenient integrated NIH single sign-on, and

• The option to add enhanced data loss prevention with GitHub Advanced Security.

For pricing and purchasing information, visit NIH GitHub’s Information Systems Distribution & Procurement page (VPN needed). To learn more, visit the NIH GitHub Resource Center, contact your IC’s NIH GitHub Points of Contact, or contact the NIH GitHub team if your IC does not have a point of contact.