CESNET Services

CESNET Services: Practical Overview

What is CESNET?

CESNET is the Czech national e-infrastructure for research and education. It provides a common platform for high-speed networking, computing, storage, cybersecurity, collaboration, multimedia, and identity services. Organizations can access standard services by obtaining membership and may also request additional paid services; eligible individual researchers are able to use selected e-INFRA CZ services.

Core service families

Service area	What CESNET offers	Best starting link
Network	400 Gb/s IP connectivity; IP addresses and DNS; dedicated circuits; optical/photonic links; time services; traffic monitoring and security-event exchange.	Network services
Computing	MetaCentrum for demanding calculations and scientific data processing; access to research clouds via OCRE; virtual-server infrastructure for institutional needs.	Computing
Data storage	Large-scale scientific storage, synchronization and sharing by ownCloud, temporary high-volume exchange via FileSender, and National Repository Platform repositories.	Data storage

MetaCentrum: CESNET computing for researchers

What it provides: A single-entry point to distributed HPC/Grid computing with OpenPBS, OpenStack cloud, Kubernetes containers, CPU and GPU clusters, high-memory nodes, storage, and specialist environments like Jupyter notebooks, Open OnDemand and Galaxy. Typical uses are likely simulation, machine learning, numerical modelling, bioinformatics, rendering, parameter sweeps and large-scale data processing.

Who can use it: Students and Czech academic and non-commercial research institutions employees for research or education can generally use this platform free of charge (most of the cases). Registration requires a valid academic affiliation and is manually approved. External collaborators should contact support.

Start here: Service overview | Create an account | Getting started | Live resources | GPU clusters | User support

Research data tools

Tool	Typical use	Access
FileSender	Send very large research files temporarily. CESNET currently supports up to 1.9 TB per file, storage for up to one month, and eduID-based access for at least one participant.	Open FileSender
ownCloud	Synchronize, store, and share working data when ongoing collaboration is needed rather than just temporary delivery.	Open ownCloud

Security, collaboration, and trusted access

Service area	What CESNET offers	Best starting link
Security	Vulnerability scanning; CESNET-CERTS incident handling; DDoS protection; antispam/antivirus gateway; NERD malicious-IP knowledge base; penetration, event-analysis, and social-engineering tests.	Security services
Multimedia	Zoom and Pexip meetings; IP telephony; event streaming; high-quality low-latency video transmission; and audio/video archiving.	Multimedia
Identity	eduID Connect; Perun AAI access management; user and server certificates; eIDAS trust services; and Time-Stamp Authority services.	Identity services

How to choose

• Need to transfer a large file once? Use FileSender; it is for temporary exchange, not long-term storage.
• Need an actively synchronized project folder? Use ownCloud or discuss institutional data storage with CESNET.
• Need CPUs/GPUs or batch processing? Start with MetaCentrum and e-INFRA CZ access for individuals.
• Need stable institutional connectivity or a dedicated path? Review IP connectivity, photonic services, CESNET Lambda, and dedicated circuits.
• Need to reduce cyber risk? Combine scanning and situational awareness with incident handling, DDoS protection, and targeted FLAB testing.
• Need federated login or managed research-group access? Use eduID Connect and Perun AAI; use certificates/eIDAS when digital trust or signing is needed.
• Need remote teaching, meetings, or event broadcasting? Use CESNET Meetings, streaming, video transmission, or archive services according to latency and quality requirements.

Access and eligibility

Organizations. CESNET members get access to e-infrastructure; eligible organizations can request access. Standard services are generally included in basic access, while extra services may require a separate agreement and fee. Access conditions

Individuals. Researchers, academic staff, and students can access selected computing, storage, file-transfer, and collaboration services through their institution and federated identity. Eligibility varies by service; check the service page before planning a workflow.