Request Anvil Access

Anvil is the Holland Computing Center's cloud computing resource, based on the OpenStack software. OpenStack is a free and open-source software platform for cloud computing. Anvil was created to address the needs of NU's research community that are not well served by a traditional batch-scheduled Linux cluster environment. Examples of use cases that are well suited to Anvil include:

  • A highly interactive environment, especially GUI applications
  • Research requiring root-level access, such as kernel modification or virtualization work
  • Alternate operating systems, such as Windows or other distributions of Linux
  • Test cluster environments for various software frameworks, such as Hadoop or Spark
  • Cluster applications that require a persistent resource, such as a web or database server

Access to Anvil is through the web interface at anvil.unl.edu. Documentation can be found on HCC's documentation website.

Account Details
Anvil Usage
Data Storage and Use Policies

Access Requirements

A limited set of Anvil resources are provided at no charge for faculty and research groups within the University of Nebraska system. Those limits are outlined on the HCC documentation website.

If you require resources larger than the free limits, contact hcc-support@unl.edu to discuss pricing information.