N.B. The project has concluded its work, please see the " What next" page for details, including follow-up activities and consulting services.
The e-FISCAL project analysed the costs and cost structures of the European High-Throughput and High-Performance Computing (HTC and HPC) e-Infrastructures. These research infrastructures are facilitated by national entities participating in EGI and PRACE, and e-FISCAL compared their costs and cost structures with similar commercially leased or on-demand offerings.
Understanding the overall costs of these European research services is a prerequisite in planning their long-term sustainability, e.g. by developing new business models for service provision. A quantitative analysis of the cost factors involved will help service providers and user communities to identify areas where the overall cost efficiency of ICT-enabled research can be optimised. The study went beyond a simple “cost per core hour” comparison by analysing qualitative differences in service between HTC a