OBI Brain-CODE Cloud Migration – Questions & Answers
- Alana Sparks
Date: August 1, 2024
User Impact
Question: Will all of Brain-CODE be migrated from the Centre for Advanced Computing (CAC) to Microsoft Azure, or just part of Brain-CODE?
Answer: All of Brain-CODE will be migrated to Microsoft Azure. This includes all data capture systems (such as REDCap, XNAT, LabKey etc.), as well as other applications part of Brain-CODE, the data, and user accounts.
Question: When will the migration take place?
Answer: The current plan is to begin migration from the summer of 2024 until March 2025. The various subsystems that make up Brain-CODE will be migrated at different points in time. We will share an overview of this timeline at the information session.
Question: How will this impact usage of Brain-CODE?
Answer: Users will experience minimal to no impact from this migration. We are conducting a “lift-and-shift" process to migrate systems from the CAC to the Azure Cloud. This means all user accounts, all applications, and all data will be migrated over. Each application will be migrated at different times, but users should not notice any change in Brain-CODE. Some migration related downtimes will have to be scheduled and we will notify users ahead of any downtime.
Data Migration
Question: Where will data be located in the cloud?
Answer: All data, applications, and user accounts will be migrated to the Microsoft Azure cloud servers located in Canada.
Question: Consent forms and Protocols have descriptions of Brain-CODE. Is this information still applicable and if not, how should it be modified?
Answer: If consent forms or protocols used language about Brain-CODE that referred specifically to the Centre for Advanced Computing (the CAC, or formerly the HPCVL), those documents should be updated. A description of Brain-CODE is provided in the Data Quality Framework “OBI DQF Standard Protocol Requirements” document. We recommend using this language for all protocols aiming to collect data on Brain-CODE. OBI has also established standard Brain-CODE consent language which is available on the website. This language should be used in consent forms for studies aiming to collect or transfer data to Brain-CODE. Our team will continue to help review consent forms and protocols prior to ethics approvals and support any need to adapt the language if necessary.
Question: Provided that all data stored in Brain-CODE from all previous phases are also being migrated to the cloud. What is the plan for working with the REBs since in many cases, the REB files may have been closed and/or sites are no longer involved with the study.
Answer: OBI will be reaching out to the institutions and REBs who've been involved in studies with data on Brain-CODE and will inform them of this migration to Microsoft Azure. We will work with researchers using Brain-CODE on any further communication requirements.
Question: Do the existing agreements allow this migration to take place?
Answer: Yes, current agreements, including Participation Agreements and OBI’s Informatics Governance Policies allow this migration to take place. However, some updates to the service group providers will be required to clarify that Microsoft will be a provider for computing infrastructure via their Azure cloud.
Other Considerations
Question: What alternatives were looked at?
Answer: We’ve evaluated other cloud providers and identified Microsoft Azure as the provider which best met our requirements overall. This evaluation was conducted across areas including technical usability, administrative ease, security measures, privacy measures, general costs, and legal agreements.