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HPC (High Performance Computing for Research)

HPC (High Performance Computing for Research)

Service Description

  • High Performance Computing (HPC) uses the power of linked Linux-based computers to speed up computing tasks.
  • HPC can save weeks or months of work on a PC.

Why not chat to us at digitalresearch@abdn.ac.uk to see if HPC can help your project!

Need HPC for  Teaching and Learning?

Features

  • Technical specification

  • Project storage space

    • 50GB of resilient, backed-up personal home space
    • 1TB of scratch space working storage
    • Additional HPC storage by negotiation
      • You must remove all data at the end of your project
      • Non-HPC data storage can be requested using this form.

  • Software

  • Backup and Restore

    • Home space backup as follows:
      • Daily backups kept for 14 day
      • Weekly backups kept for 1 week
    • Scratch partition and Vault not backed up
    • Full details

  • Scheduling/Prioritisation

    • Management system allocates jobs to available nodes.
    • Funded projects given priority
    • Full details

  • Remote Access

    • Maxwell can be accessed both on-campus and off campus. using a variety of clients that support the SSH protocol. 
    • Full details

  • Access to and advice on external HPCs

    • Archer (Tier 2) National HPC
    • Cirrus (Tier 2) Free for EPSRC funded projects
    • Jade (Tier 2) Specialised GPU HPC – Access is very restricted 

Users

  • Staff, including honorary staff
  • Research postgraduate students
  • Masters’ students
  • Undergraduate students
  • External collaborators and,
  • External companies via commercial arrangement

Service Hours

  • 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, bar below:
    • Scheduled downtimes, giving prior notice of at least a week 
    • Unforeseen interruptions - restoring services as soon as possible

Level of Service

  • Support is available during normal working hours. 
  • Training on HPC is delivered to staff and students annually
  • Bespoke training for staff and students on request

For further information, support, or training requests, please contact us at digitalresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Documentation

Request Process

Please allow 2-5 working days for your request to be actioned.

Once account allocated, further guidance will be provided.

User Responsibility

Users must comply with all relevant University policies and guidance including:

  • Information Security Policy
  • Data Protection Policy
  • Research Data Management Policy and Guidance
  • Conditions for using IT Services

*All in policy zone

Costs

Funded Projects

  • The HPC uses a queuing algorithm which prioritises funded projects
  • Costs must be included in Worktribe grant applications:
    • £100 minimum per funded project (HPC account, set up support, and up to 1000 core hours CPU)
    • 10p per core hour for compute
    • 10p per core hour per GPU
    • £400 per day for additional support (eg installation and troubleshooting of bespoke applications)
    • Additional storage by negotiation.
  • For a quote, please contact digitalresearch@abdn.ac.uk

Unfunded Projects

Limited free use (up to 1000 core hours) for:

  • Small pilot projects
  • Unfunded PGR projects
  • Unfunded UG/MSc projects

Test the HPC

Free of Charge (up to 500 core hours).