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Who this is for
Research faculty and PhD students in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business who need access to Numerator data for their research. This article explains how access works and the steps to request it.
How Numerator access works
Numerator is handled differently from the databases hosted on the JCB research servers and from those reached through WRDS. The Numerator data sits on a secure share hosted by the Cornell Center for Advanced Computing (CAC), and that share can only be reached from a Red Cloud computing instance — not from your laptop, and not from the JCB research servers.
In practice this means you do your analysis on your own Red Cloud instance, and that instance is granted access to the Numerator share. The sequence is: Research Computing adds you to a JCB Red Cloud project at CAC; you create an instance in that project; you send us its IP address; we then authorise that address to reach the Numerator data.
Because Numerator is licensed data, your request also includes an approval step: you will be asked to attest to the terms under which you may use the data before access is granted.
If you have not used Red Cloud before, CAC publishes general background on the service at cac.cornell.edu/services/cloudservices.aspx.
Paying for Red Cloud
The college provides faculty with Red Cloud bundles each year. Once those bundles are used up, additional bundles must be paid for with RPF funds.
PhD students should work with a faculty member to set up a Red Cloud project, or to be added to an existing project with that faculty member.
Step 1: Submit the Numerator access request
Numerator access starts with a request that you submit yourself, using your own login, in the JCB Research Computing database portal. Open databases.researchcomputing.business.cornell.edu and choose Research Database Access Request from the menu.
On that page, select Numerator from the database list and complete the request.
Submitting the request notifies JCB Research Computing automatically. You do not need to email us as well.
Step 2: Research Computing adds you to a JCB Red Cloud project
Once your request is in place, JCB Research Computing adds you to a JCB Red Cloud project at CAC. Each research team has its own project, holding its own instances. You do not need to arrange this with CAC yourself.
This usually takes two to three business days. We will let you know once you have been added, and that is your cue to move on to Step 3.
If you have questions at any point, or your request is time-sensitive, email research-computing@business.cornell.edu.
Step 3: Create your instance and send us its IP address
Once you have been added to a project, create your Red Cloud instance in it. When it is running, send its IP address to Research Computing at research-computing@business.cornell.edu.
CAC documents how to create and manage an instance in their technical documentation at portal.cac.cornell.edu/TechDocs/, and they publish video walkthroughs on their YouTube channel.
Only approved IP addresses can reach the Numerator data. When we receive your instance's address, we add it to that approved list; until then, your instance cannot reach the data.
If your instance's IP address ever changes, send us the new address right away. Access is tied to the specific address we have on file, so an instance with a new address will lose access to the data until we update the list.
Step 4: You will receive connection instructions
After your sign-up is complete, Research Computing will send you instructions for connecting to your Red Cloud instance and working with the Numerator data.
Collaborators without a Cornell NetID
This applies only in unusual cases. If someone you are working with has no official status at the university — a co-author at another institution, a recent alum still working on research with you, or an outside research assistant — they may need a sponsored NetID before they can be given access. If that applies to your project, mention it when you contact Research Computing and we will advise.
Need help?
If you are not sure whether Numerator is the right data source for your research, or you are stuck at any step of the access process above, contact JCB Research Computing and we will help.
For technical problems with Red Cloud itself — an instance that will not start, trouble logging in to your instance, performance or capacity questions — contact CAC support directly. They run the service and can resolve those far faster than we can. Their technical documentation and support contact information are at portal.cac.cornell.edu/TechDocs/.
Please direct all questions and issues to research-computing@business.cornell.edu.
[authored via Jane by rtm25 on 2026-10-08 17:25 UTC]