Step 1- Getting an Account

Access to the CRC Ecosystem requires a CRC account and an accompanying resource allocation. All active Pitt faculty, instructors, or center directors can request a resource allocation using the webform from our service catalog.

The CRC Ecosystem is hosted at the Pitt data center and is firewalled within PittNet. You will first need to establish a VPN in order to gain access.

Alternative Access Point: AVD

If after exhausting all troubleshooting avenues and the VPN remains non-functional, an alternative approach is to use an Azure Virtual Desktop as a so-called jump box to CRC.

CRC users on UPMC devices, please follow these instructions for connecting to the HSIT-AVD instance.

Accessing the HIPAA environment

The CRC HIPAA environment can be accessed using a secured Azure Virtual Desktop. Only projects with an IRB approval can reside within this restricted environment.

A schematic of this part of the process is highlighted below.

Definitions

• Resource allocation -- an allotment of computing time and/or data storage quota
• Client -- this is your computer or internet-connected device
• PittNet -- the internal University network
• Firewall -- a network security device that monitors and filters incoming and outgoing network traffic based on an organization's previously established security policies