Option 4: Using the Virtual Windows Cloud S-VDI

A Paid, SAS-Friendly Option

This Azure-based Windows environment is able to host the SAS desktop application that is most familiar to SAS users. Cost is dependent on the amount of storage and size of the machine a user requests. To use this platform for analytic purposes, coding skills are necessary.

Recommended for: Research teams that (1) only contain Stanford personnel/students and individuals with fully-sponsored SUNets (i.e with a Stanford email address), (2) who have the necessary IRB/DRA/DUA agreement(s), (3) funding and a valid PTA, and (4) who particularly need a Windows environment, like SAS users.

Optimal Use

• SAS
• Stata (purchase of license needed)
• R and RStudio
• SPSS
• Matlab
• Windows. Is Cloud-based.

Benefits

• Ideal for SAS users.
• Flexibility: The computational resource allocation is customizable to your needs.
• Moderate ease of access to data: data can be exported from Redivis to S-VDI, though depending on the size of the data cut, approval may need to be requested through the PHS Data Portal.

Drawbacks

• Some associated costs (more details in 'Cost' section above).
• You will need to work with Stanford Technology Solutions to set guardrails to prevent unexpected costs.
• If a dataset is updated, you will have to export a cut of that update from Redivis to S-VDI in order for it to show up on Nero.
• You are responsible for ensuring that you are currently approved (on the PHS Data Portal) to access the data that is stored within your S-VDI account. If you are not currently approved, you should not access to the data or the S-VDI Account.

Costs

These machines are in a Cloud environment so there are cloud costs and setup costs, but they are not prohibitive.

You can request an individual virtual machine at $80 per user per month (4 CPU, 16GB RAM, 120GB storage; costs increase linearly for higher-spec machines, and there is cost for STATA software).

More detailed pricing information available here.

Additional S-VDI Resources

S-VDI Overview: https://uit.stanford.edu/service/vdi

S-VDI Account Request Form: https://uit.stanford.edu/service/vdi

S-VDI Demonstration: Video (Instructions on how to sign-up are included in this video a__t 25min & 18sec in.)