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There are clear benefits in using a CLOUD infrastructure with access to Virtual Machines (VMs) with respect to our traditional our HPC resources. These benefits can be summarized in the table below:
| Traditional HPC resources | Virtual Machines | |
| Performance | Target the highest possible | depend on workload, but generally, virtualization has a small impact |
| User access | CINECA staff authorization | Once a project is granted, it is managed by the user |
| Operating System | It is chosen by CINECA staff given the HW constraints. Security updates are managed by CINECA. | Selected by the user. Security patch and updates are managed by the user. |
| Software stack | Mostly installed by CINECA staff. Users can install their own without "root" privilege. The environment is provided "as is" | The user is root on the VMs and can install all the required software stack. Users can modify the environment to suit their needs. |
| Snapshots of the environment | Cannot be done | User can save snapshot images of the VMs |
| Running simulations | Users are provided with a job scheduler (SLURM) | Users can install a job scheduler or chose alternatives. |
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