Exactly one year ago, we ceremoniously marked the completion of the strategic project Croatian Scientific and Educational Cloud (HR-ZOO) and launched the academic cloud.
Through the implementation of the Croatian Scientific and Educational Cloud (HR-ZOO) project, a unique national shared e-infrastructure necessary for further development of research, innovation, and business capacities in science and higher education in the Republic of Croatia was established. A network of five data centers was built in four cities, including locations at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture of the University of Split, a student dormitory within the University Campus Osijek of the University of J. J. Strossmayer in Osijek, the University Department within the University Campus Trsat of the University of Rijeka, the building of SRCE in Zagreb, and a brand new data center within the Scientific-University Campus Borongaj of the University of Zagreb, spanning 1300 m2 and equipped with a power capacity of 1.1 MW. The data centers are interconnected with a 100 Gbit/s network providing long-term capacities for the national e-infrastructure, enabling users faster and safer access to HR-ZOO cloud services, and connecting the national infrastructure with infrastructures in Europe and worldwide.
We established two infrastructure services, Advanced Computing and VDC - Virtual Data Centers, along with a team of top experts providing specialized support to scientists, teachers, and students in their usage. The Advanced Computing service is based on the two currently most powerful computers in Croatia: the resource for high-performance computing – the supercomputer "Supek" and the resource for advanced computing – "Vrančić", intended for individuals. The VDC - Virtual Data Centers service is based on the resource for virtual data centers "Štampar" and provides resources to academic and scientific institutions for building virtual data centers and creating and using virtual servers.
We are pleased that our community has recognized the benefits provided by SRCE and actively utilizes the resources of the academic cloud available free of charge. We look forward to further collaboration and even stronger utilization of our academic cloud in the coming years.
