GeoSlicer for Digital Rock Analysis on Azure

GeoSlicer is a software platform for digital rock visualization and image processing. It incorporates various approaches for thin section, CT, and mCT imagery analysis. Utilizing techniques such as Convolutional Neural Networks, GeoSlicer provides a comprehensive solution for managing complex geological workflows within a single platform.

This Azure Marketplace Virtual Machine offer provides the GeoSlicer public version application, pre-installed and configured on an Ubuntu 22.04 operating system. This setup is designed to facilitate quick deployment and immediate access to the GeoSlicer environment.

Key Features of This VM Offer:

• Pre-configured Environment: GeoSlicer comes pre-installed on Ubuntu 22.04, reducing setup time.
• Graphical User Interface (GUI): Access the VM's desktop environment via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) for an intuitive user experience, using the user/password credentials established during the VM setup.
• Azure Integration: Leverage Azure's infrastructure for scalable computing resources tailored to your digital rock analysis needs.
• Integrated Workflow: GeoSlicer offers a unified platform to manage diverse digital rock imaging and processing tasks.

Connecting to Your GeoSlicer VM

To establish a connection to your Virtual Machine and utilize the GeoSlicer application, specific network security configurations are required. Upon deployment, Azure provisions a Network Security Group (NSG) to manage network traffic to and from your VM. Please check if the ports 22 (SSH) and 3389 (RDP) are allowed in the Network Settings.

Ensure the following inbound ports are configured in your VM's Network Security Group (NSG):

1. RDP Access (Port 3389) for GUI Connection:
   • Purpose: Allows you to connect to the Ubuntu desktop environment via any RDP client (e.g., Microsoft Remote Desktop).
   • During VM Creation: On the "Networking" tab of the Azure VM creation wizard, ensure "Allow selected ports" is chosen for "Public inbound ports," and "RDP (3389)" is selected from the dropdown.
   • After VM Creation (if adjustment is needed): Navigate to your VM in the Azure Portal > "Networking" > "Add inbound port rule." Select "RDP" as the Service (which will pre-fill port 3389/TCP).
2. SSH Access (Port 22) for Command-Line Connection:
   • Purpose: Allows secure command-line access to your VM.
   • During VM Creation: On the "Networking" tab of the Azure VM creation wizard, if you select "Allow selected ports," ensure "SSH (22)" is also chosen from the dropdown.
   • After VM Creation (if adjustment is needed): Navigate to your VM in the Azure Portal > "Networking" > "Add inbound port rule." Select "SSH" as the Service to configure port 22/TCP access.

Security Recommendations:

For production environments, it is recommended to restrict the source IP ranges for SSH (22) and RDP (3389) to specific, known IP addresses. This enhances security by limiting public exposure. Alternatively, consider using Azure Bastion for secure remote access without requiring public IP addresses.

Application Auto-Start Information:

The GeoSlicer application is configured to launch automatically upon the Virtual Machine's system startup (after booting and user login to the desktop environment).

Please be aware that the time required for GeoSlicer to fully initialize and become ready for use depends on the selected Virtual Machine size and its associated resources (CPU, RAM, GPU and Storage Type). Larger and more powerful VM instances will generally lead to faster application startup times. During this initialization period, you might observe background processes or a loading indicator. Please allow this time for the application to prepare