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The Cloud Innovation & Experimentation (CIE) platform provides a secure, cloud-based environment for testing and exploring new cloud computing technologies. This platform is strictly for non-operational, development, and research purposes. Users must comply with the following terms and ensure that anyone accessing their work or experiment environment adheres to them. These Terms & Conditions are in addition to all pre-existing GC or departmental acceptable use policies.
- Service: The Cloud Innovation & Experimentation platform and its associated tools and resources.
- Downtime: Periods when the platform is unavailable.
- Data: Any information uploaded, processed, or generated within the platform.
- User: Any individual or entity granted access to the platform.
¶ Permitted and Prohibited Use Examples
- Experimentation with cloud technologies.
- Development and testing of applications and services.
- Research and proof-of-concept projects.
- Hosting production workloads.
- Storing or processing classified or sensitive information (Protected A/B requires explicit approval).
- Engaging in unauthorized access, hacking, or security testing without prior authorization.
¶ Data Classification and Security
- Default Classification: Only unclassified data is permitted.
- Protected Data: Requires explicit approval and additional security measures.
- Privilege Management: Users must implement the principle of least privilege, granting only necessary access levels.
- Monitoring & Auditing: Users must actively monitor their workloads and report security concerns.
- Availability: The target service uptime is 95% during business hours (8 AM - 4 PM ET, Monday-Friday). Availability outside these hours is not guaranteed.
- Support: Available 8 AM - 4 PM ET; response times may vary.
- Service Interruptions: The platform may be temporarily suspended due to security, vendor, or funding constraints.
- Compliance: Users must adhere to all applicable policies and laws.
- Licensing: Users are responsible for obtaining licenses for any third-party software.
- Tagging & Cost Tracking: All resources must be properly tagged for billing and identification.
- Shutdown Policy: Unused resources should be powered down daily to optimize costs.
- Spot Instances: Users are encouraged to use Spot Instances where feasible to reduce expenses.
- Cost and Consumption Management: Users are responsible for managing their agreed-upon budgetary consumption limits and proactively monitoring resource usage. Any overages beyond the allocated budget are subject to payment or cost recovery. SSC reserves the right to implement cost control measures if necessary. If a user anticipates a need for burst compute or a drastic increase in cloud resource consumption, they must notify their responsible experimentation lead at SSC at least two business days prior to executing the test.
- Time-Limited Occupancy: Use is limited to specific short-term projects, with an occupancy range of 3 to 12 months.
- Scale of Consumption: The default is small-scale, with large-scale consumption available upon request and approval.
¶ Connectivity and Data Handling
- No Cloud-to-Ground Connectivity: VPN or direct connections to GC networks/data centers are not provided. Users may pull appropriately classified data from GC infrastructure if permitted.
- Workload Isolation: All workloads must be isolated; cross-workload connectivity is prohibited without prior approval.
- Backup Responsibility: Users are responsible for implementing their own backup and disaster recovery solutions.
¶ Third-Party Integration and Marketplace Products
- Third-Party Integration: Allowed based on clients' expertise and requirements; subject to appropriate expertise.
- Marketplace Products: Available but subject to licensing considerations, security assessments and conditions as set out in the GC Cloud Framework Agreement.
- Project Tracking: Users must define objectives and regularly monitor progress.
- Feedback & Closeout Reports: Users are required to provide feedback on platform performance and contribute to final reports for experiments.
- Audit Readiness: Users must ensure compliance with security assessments and audits.
SSC reserves the right to update these terms and conditions. Users will be notified of any significant changes.
For support, compliance inquiries, or further clarification, please reach out to the CIE support team at gccolaunchpad-rampedelancementiugc@ssc-spc.gc.ca.