New storage limits in Nightingale Cloud

Since we launched in January 2022, Nightingale has provided cloud access to massive datasets for research in computational medicine. We are proud to have bridged the access gap for researchers at less-resourced institutions, enabled more reproducible research, and continued adding to the data catalog.

In April we announced the Nightingale Network. Nightingale provides legal protections that satisfy privacy and security concerns of both data providers and data custodians—primarily to mitigate risks of patient reidentification and unauthorized data use. By joining our network, research institutions are able to bring Nightingale data into their local environment where their researchers can use local infrastructure and other resources to accomplish their work.

The expansion of the Nightingale Network means it is now more feasible for more people to use Nightingale data as data use is no longer exclusively tied to Nightingale Cloud. Accordingly, we will make the following changes to our future cloud services, starting in October 2024:

Limited dataset size: For large datasets like our 138 terabyte (and growing) brca-psj-path, Nightingale Cloud will provide a representative sample. For full access you'll need your institution to join the Nightingale Network and you’ll need to use local storage and compute. For datasets less than 50 gigabytes or so, we'll continue to host the whole dataset in Nightingale Cloud.‍
Limited free compute and storage:‍
- 10 free compute hours per week on cpu.1x instances
- 20 free gigabyte-months (lifetime total) of persistent storage‍
Additional storage capacity: After you use your free 20 GB-months of storage, you'll need to pay for your own storage usage in increments of 1 GB, which you’ll be able to manage yourself.

We have more changes on the horizon as well:

More storage options: After we transition to the new storage limits, plan to offer new storage types. That way you can pick an option that offers the best characteristics for your project. Stay tuned for more.
More GPU options: Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

What you need to do now

Delete any data you don’t need. Remember, you can download your results, including your models. You cannot download any raw or processed Nightingale data.

In August, we will announce storage pricing details, and we will show you the storage quota and cost that you will incur starting on October 15th if you maintain your current storage usage. You will be able to set or update the storage quotas for your projects, which will go into effect on October 15th.

What to expect

On October 15th, your storage will be limited to either the specific capacity that you chose or a default quota determined by your current funds balance and storage usage.

From then on, if your project has insufficient funds to pay for existing storage space, we will give you a one-week grace period to make adjustments. After the grace period, we will delete all data in unfunded volumes.

Also if you try to use more disk space than your quota, you’ll get disk space errors. You will be able to increase or decrease this storage quota yourself as long as your account is funded accordingly.

We recognize the inconvenience that these changes may bring. Please reach out if you have any questions or need any assistance.

If you would like to continue using Nightingale’s full data catalog, we will help you navigate the process for your institution to join the Nightingale Network. You can contact us at support@ngsci.org.