Service Description
The Armis2 High-Performance Cluster for Sensitive Data (HIPAA) is available to all faculty, scientists, clinicians, and students working on any U-M campus (Ann Arbor, Flint, Dearborn, Michigan Medicine) with needs to process sensitive data in conformance with HIPAA privacy standards. The high-performance computing environment is composed of task-managing administrative nodes and standard Linux-based 2- and 4-socket server class hardware in a secure data center. It is connected by both a high-speed Ethernet (1 Gb/s) and InfiniBand network (40Gb/s), as well as to a secure parallel file system for temporary data, provided by HIPAA-aligned Turbo Research Storage with NFSv4+Kerberos.
Compliance
The Advanced Research Computing (ARC) Armis2 High-Performance Computing Cluster for Sensitive Data (HIPAA), in conjunction with Turbo Research Storage with NFSv4+Kerberos, provides a secure, scalable, high-performance, distributed computing environment that aligns with HIPAA privacy standards.
Accordingly, you may use it to maintain Protected Health Information (PHI). Complying with HIPAA's requirements is a shared responsibility. Users sharing and storing PHI in Armis2 are responsible for complying with HIPAA safeguards, including:
- Using and disclosing only the minimum necessary PHI for the intended purpose.
- Obtaining all required authorizations for using and disclosing PHI.
- Ensuring that PHI is seen only by those who are authorized to see it.
- Following any additional steps required by your unit to comply with HIPAA.
Social Security numbers should only be used where required by law or where they are essential for university business processes. If you must use SSNs, it is preferred that you use institutional resources designed to house this data, such as the Data Warehouse. IA can help you explore appropriate storage locations or work with you to appropriately encrypt the data if those alternatives will not work for you. (Contact IA via the ITS Service Center.)