FAQs

Here you will find some of the most common questions we receive about the EOSC Portal. If you're still having technical issues, you can reach out via the EOSC Portal Helpdesk or if your question is of a more general nature, you may Contact Us

For providers

Q1. How can I become a service provider, what are the conditions, what are the benefits?

This section of the EOSC Portal provides all the information: https://eosc-portal.eu/for-providers

Q2. What is a service? (in the EOSC Portal)

It can be either an online service (e.g. a web portal or a web service) or it can be a 'human' service, such as training and consultancy. A service brings value to users and facilitates them to implement Open Science.

Q3. Can I provide my service through the EOSC Portal?

Yes. The EOSC Portal is keen to onboard services that support the implementation of Open Science. You can register your service at https://eosc-portal.eu/for-providers.

Q4. Is the EOSC Portal about cloud services?

Not only. The EOSC Portal Catalogue & Marketplace provides access to cloud services as well as to other services such as data management services, storage services, etc. More information here.

Q5. Can I share/distribute my software through the EOSC Portal?

The EOSC Portal itself is not a software repository, although there are software repository services in the Portal, each with their custom rules and scope for use. If your software is straightforward to download, install and operate in a local environment, then no need to engage with us - you can share your code via one of the software repository services that are available via the Portal (for example this or this), or via GitHub. However, setting up a 'demonstrator service' from your software and registering it in the Portal ‘as a service’, can be a good idea because then your work becomes directly visible in the EOSC Portal, and new users can more easily try it (then decide about download and operation in a local environment).

If your software is more complicated or resource-demanding to install and operate, or if you want to have a demonstrator instance of it, get in touch with the EOSC-Portal technical support to request assistance for this.

Q6. I am a compute service provider. Shall I onboard in the EOSC Portal directly, or rather register in EGI or other European network that is already in the EOSC Portal?

You can do either way. Both options have pros and cons. By registering directly you have full control of how to describe your service, and for whom do you position it. But you will have to respond to the incoming requests, and your offering may be less attractive to those who look for example federated services in multiple countries. By joining through EGI (or other European network), you need to comply with the requirements of the network, not with EOSC directly. You can be part of a supplier group that responds to the incoming EOSC requests in a collaborative way. But you may not reach users that seek exactly the type of service that you offer.

For users

Q1. Where can I find Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) clouds in the EOSC Portal?

You can find IaaS clouds in the EOSC Portal under the 'Compute' category.

Q2. Which IaaS cloud service shall I use? What are the advantages/disadvantages?

Each IaaS cloud service has its own terms of use and service conditions. For example, there are services that are 'free at-point-of-use' for certain scientific communities, for researchers working in certain disciplines, or for users from specific countries. There are clouds that work on a pay-for-use basis or offer extra features and user support upon payment. The exact access conditions are available in the EOSC Portal under each entry.

Q3. What is the difference between the cloud resources provided by the EOSC Portal and by commercial clouds (such as Amazon, Google, MS Azure)?

The EOSC Portal includes IaaS/PaaS/SaaS cloud providers that are similar in functionality to those commercial offerings. But the Portal offering  is broader than this and includes many other types of services (such as data catalogues, data transfer services, scientific gateways, training portals, etc.)

Most of the EOSC Portal cloud providers offer user support and technical consultancy as part of their service to help researchers port applications and services into a cloud environment. Commercial clouds may provide user support, but usually as a paid extra service.

EOSC Portal clouds are tailored to research use cases and research needs.

EOSC Portal clouds typically host existing research datasets close to the compute capacity, thus scientific analysis can be performed with very good performance and without the need of heavy wide-area network usage. Commercial clouds often charge extra for ingress/egress traffic.

Most of the EOSC Portal IaaS clouds can be offered free at-point-of-use under certain conditions (for example for members of a specific research community, researchers from a specific country). Get in touch with the EOSC technical support if you do not know which IaaS cloud to choose from the EOSC Portal.

Q4. Can I use EOSC Portal services to store and/or to process sensitive data (e.g. medical data)?

Generally not. Most of the EOSC Portal storage services do not use encryption at rest, and do not possess specific certifications to handle sensitive data. However, there are few providers that are specifically designed for collecting, storing and processing sensitive data - for example ePouta and TSD.