We're here to support research in every way possible, ensuring that researchers have access to the computing resources they need. Whether it's high-performance computing for complex simulations, scalable server hosting for research projects, or secure storage for critical data, our infrastructure is designed to accommodate a wide range of research needs. With flexible solutions and a tiered approach, we help researchers find the right balance of performance, security, and affordability to advance their work. 

Glossary of Terms Within:

AbbreviationMeaning
vCPUVirtual Central Processing Unit
CPUCentral Processing Unit
RAMRandom Access Memory
GPUGraphics Processing Unit
SSDSolid-State Drive
OSOperating System
TBTerabyte
GBGigabyte
GbpsGigabits per second
HPCHigh-Performance Computing
FTTFailures to Tolerate
I/OInput/Output
vSANVMware Virtual Storage Area Network
SQLStructured Query Language


It is our pleasure to welcome you to Unity, a high performance computing cluster located at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) and managed by the UMass Amherst Research Computing team.

See the acceptable use policy before using Unity. Please note items 9 and 22 when considering Unity for controlled research.

Principal Investigator and Faculty Accounts 

  • Principal Investigators and faculty can request Unity cluster Principal Investigator accounts in the Unity portal.
  • For instructions to request an account, please visit Requesting a Unity Account.


Student and Postdoc Accounts

  • Students and postdocs can be added to an existing Principle Investigator group.
  • Students and postdocs cannot access Unity without an associated Principle Investigator, so please ensure the initial Principle Investigator account is created and approved before onboarding your students.
  • For instructions on creating a student or postdoc account, please visit Requesting a Unity Account.

Unity Onboarding and Events 

To learn more about Unity, including onboarding sessions and workshops, visit the Unity Events page. You can also learn about Unity by joining the Unity Slack Community, joining office hours, and more by visiting the Unity Contact page. 

We are very excited about what the future of high-performance computing holds for the UMass Lowell community! If you have any questions, please open a support request on the IT Self-Service portal.

For the most up to date information, see our transition documentation on the Unity Documentation page.

Provides scalable computing resources for research, teaching, and enterprise applications. Offers three tiers (Silver, Gold, and Platinum) with increasing CPU, memory, and network performance.

TiervCPUsMemoryOS DiskNetwork SpeedPrice per Month
Silver28 GB100GS SSD1 Gbps$96
Gold416 GB100GS SSD10 Gbps$158
Platinum832 GB100GS SSD10 Gbps$280

*SQL standard licensing $27.38 per month per 2 cores. 30 days of nightly backups included and 180 days of backup archive storage included.

Offers secure, high-performance virtual desktops for remote and on-campus users. Supports general productivity applications, research and specialized workloads with flexible resource allocation.

TiervCPUsMemoryOS DiskNetwork SpeedPrice per Month
Silver48 GB100GS SSD1 Gbps$50
Gold816 GB100GS SSD1 Gbps$100
Platinum1632 GB100GS SSD1 Gbps$150

*1GB GPU can be added for an additional $5 a month

Offers high-availability storage solutions with vSAN-backed redundancy and performance tuning. Four tiers provide different levels of data protection and throughput for varying workloads. 

TierPerformance LevelStorage PolicyFTTPrice
BronzeOneDrive/SharepointCloud1$.3 per 100GB per month
SilverStandard vSANDefault Settings1$20 per 100GB per month
GoldHigh vSANIncreased I/O and throughput2$40 per 100GB per month
PlatinumHighest vSANBest I/O and performance3$60 per 100GB per month

Workstations designed for productivity, research, and high-performance computing. Available in silver, gold, and platinum configurations, supporting different levels of computational needs. 

TierModelCPURAMStorageGPUPrice
SilverDell OptiPlex 7020Intel Core i5-145008GB512GB SSDIntegrated$728
Gold Dell OptiPlex Tower PlusIntel Core i7-1470016GB512GB SSDIntegrated$1,200
PlatinumDell Precision 7960Intel Xeon W5-3423192GB1TB SSDNVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada$9,900

Portable computing solutions for various workloads. The silver tier focuses on general office use, gold supports higher-performance tasks, and platinum is tailored for power users and research professionals. 

TierModelCPURAMStorageGPUPrice
SilverDell Latitude 5450Intel Core Ultra 5 135U16GB512GB SSDIntegrated$1,079
GoldDell Latitude 7450Intel Core 7 165H16GB512GB SSDIntegrated$1,575
PlatinumDell Mobile Precision 5690Intel Core Ultra 9 185H32GB1TB SSDNVIDIA RTX 2000Ada (8GB)$3,100