The Advanced IT Core represents a group of professional IT staff with many years of experience helping researchers with their supercomputing, massive data storage, and visualization needs. While some or all of these services may be available at a lab- or departmental level, there are several distinct advantages in using the Advanced IT Core services:

• Research Technologies (RT) systems are hosted in professionally maintained, air-conditioned, physically secure data centers, with 24x7 operational support and problem escalation.
  
  
• RT solutions are robust and scalable, and are developed in a rigorous environment that will ensure continued functionality as your data grow, standards evolve, and usage models change.
  
  
• RT can store and archive massive data sets that cannot be managed reliably in a laboratory. As storage media ages and evolves, RT is committed to ensuring seamless access to your data while continually evaluating and embracing new storage technologies (meaning that data will be migrated continuously, automatically, and without any action on your part while we innovate.) Such high reliability will ensure that the data are protected now and will continue to do so in the future.
  
  
• RT supercomputing systems can handle computationally and data intensive analyses, likely far beyond the reach of lab or departmental computers.
  
  
• Visualization labs at IUPUI permit novel data exploration and dissemniation using techniques such as virtual reality, 3D imaging, etc., that employ the highest-end hardware available today.
  
  
• RT is a national leader in grid computing and national supercomputing alliances such as the TeraGrid.