Topics Map > Platform X
Topics Map > Platform R
Platform X/Platform R: SMPH Computing Solutions
Overview
The School of Medicine and Public Health offers two main computational platforms: Platform X: Overview and Platform R: Overview.
This article can be used to help inform the similarities and differences between these two computational solutions.
Item |
Platform X |
Platform R |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted | In Azure Cloud Services | On-Premises, High Performance Compute Cluster |
| Ease of Use | You can request a familiar Operating System (Windows or Linux). | You will need to have at least a basic understanding of working with Linux and feel comfortable with using the command line. |
| Storage | There are several storage options and sizes offered by Windows; however, there is a pass through cost with the storage disk you select. | Long-term storage is provided by Restricted ResearchDrive - Getting Started. Fast, temporary scratch storage is available on all HPC servers. |
| Software | For a list of software capabilities refer to Platform X: Software Available on VM. | Python, R, spack, slurm |
| Enabled for PHI | Yes. | Yes. |
| Ease of Changing Computational Resources | Moderately easy. Coordination with Microsoft may be required depending on what resources are available in the region. | Dynamic use of shared HPC hardware is available without additional requests from the Platform R team. |
| Parallelization | Not explicitly supported | Uses slurm to parallelize processes. |
| Cost | Cost is passed through from Microsoft services and depends on your storage and computational use. Typically cost ranges from $30 - $1,000/month. | Coming 2026 |
| External Users | Supports affiliate researchers. Departmental VPN must be used. | Available for UW research related to restricted data omics and imaging. |
| Example Use Case | Computing for PHI data where the research group would be most comfortable with Windows OS. | Technically savvy group that is completing computation on very large data sets (genomics, images). |
Next Steps
Platform X
If you are interested in exploring Platform X for your research needs, complete the Platform X Request Intake form.
If you have additional questions about Platform X, refer to the Platform X: Frequently Asked Questions KB article or submit a question to the Px Service Portal.
Platform R
If you are interested in exploring Platform R for your research needs, fill out the access request form on the Platform R Request Intake.
If you have additional questions about Platform R, submit a question to the pR Service Portal.
Additional Resources
If neither of these resources meet your needs, there are other campus facilitated computational platform that you can explore. Depending on your needs review Campus Cloud Infrastructure (CCI), Center for High Throughput Computing (CHTC), or Social Science Computing Cooperative (SSCC).