LASER (Leeds Analytic Secure Environment for Research) provides Virtual Research Environments (VRE) for University researchers, delivering flexible and scalable resources. It meets the highest standards of security for data analytics, ensuring ISO27001 and NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit compliance.
What is a Virtual Research Environment?
LASER is the platform on which we can build and host Virtual Research Environments (VREs).
In their simplest form, a VRE is a virtualised environment consisting of virtual machines and shared storage where data flow is strictly controlled. Taking a ‘walled garden’ approach, there is no access to the internet or other networks from inside a VRE.
Research is conducted by connecting to a virtual machine (VM) within a VRE. The VMs within a single VRE can all see the same project shared storage, which is inaccessible from other VREs. Software can be installed to, and run directly on, the VMs.
The LASER Platform has been designed with, and for, researchers and includes the following capabilities:
- Fully flexible and scalable to enable researchers to align spend to research requirements.
- Agile and quick to provision, to support a range of research user cases.
- Access to the latest tools and capabilities such as machine learning to support researchers.
Using LASER and more information
If you have any questions or are interested in working with LIDA (Leeds Institue for Data Analytics) and using the LASER platform, please contact a member of the Data Analytics Team
More information is available on the LASER documentation site