10-Feb-2009

Need More Computing Resources Than Rice Can Support?

The Research Computing Support Group (RCSG) within the Division of Information Technology at Rice University currently maintains several shared computing systems totaling approximately 14 Teraflops of computing power that are available to faculty and their students for free. However, certain types of computational problems might exceed the capabilities of our systems. Therefore, the RCSG recommends using the TeraGrid, a collection of shared computing systems distributed across eleven sites nationally. These resources are supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and are maintained as a free national resource. Combined, these resources total approximately 750 Teraflops of computing power.

What does the TeraGrid provide?

The TeraGrid provides access to 19 compute clusters distributed across eleven different sites:

UC/ANL - University of Chicago / Argonne National Lab TACC - Texas Advanced Computing Center SDSC - San Diego Supercomputing Center Purdue - Purdue University PSC - Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center ORNL - Oak Ridge National Lab NICS - National Institute for Computational Sciences NCSA - National Center for Supercomputing Applications NCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research LONI - Louisiana Optical Network Initiative IU - Indiana Univeristy

These sites maintain a variety of different computing systems including Cray XT4, Intel 64, IBM Blue Gene, Intel Itanium2, SGI Altix, and many others. Additionally, these sites maintain visualization, storage, special purpose systems, science gateways, and scientific databases and data collections.

Science Gateways

The TeraGrid currently contains over 30 science gateways, web portals designed by scientists in specific disciplines to integrate access to scientific databases and data collections with job submissions so that scientists can concentrate on the science rather than the technology. For more information on science gateways, please see this PDF.

Data Collections

Data collections represent permanent data storage that is organized, searchable, and available to a wide audience, either a collaborative group or the scientific public in general. Data collections usually have a web interface or portal for displaying and retrieving data. The TeraGrid currently maintains over 100 data collections which are listed on the TeraGrid web site.

Data Storage

In addition to computing resources, the TeraGrid also maintains storage resources. Some storage allocations are included with the compute resource allocation. However, the TeraGrid also maintains storage allocations that are independent of compute allocations and are intended for large-scale persistent storage of data and data collections. More details are on the TeraGrid web site.

Resource Allocations

In order to access the TeraGrid resources, faculty members must apply for a resource allocation. Allocations are in three categories, startup, education, and research. The startup allocation is intended for modest computations or for researchers who are planning on requesting a larger research allocation in the future. The education allocation is intended for faculty who intend to use the TeraGrid for classroom instruction. The research allocation is intended for projects that exceed the startup allocation and are considered full production runs of research activity. More details about these allocations can be found on the TeraGrid web site. All allocation requests will go through a vetting process conducted by TeraGrid staff before access is granted. However, since TeraGrid is funded by NSF, any NFS-funded project will go through a shorter vetting process though all researchers are encouraged to apply no matter what is the funding source of the project.

Can RCSG Help Me with the TeraGrid?

The RCSG currently has two staff members that are TeraGrid Campus Champions. These staff members already have access to many systems on the TeraGrid and can share their resource allocations with Rice researchers for training purposes and for debugging of job submissions. Further, the Campus Champions have access to TeraGrid staff via direct phone calls, mailing lists, monthly conference calls, annual conferences, and so on. The Campus Champions will use these communication channels to pose questions, suggest improvements, participate in policy discussions, and solicit help for Rice researchers needing to use the TeraGrid. The Campus Champions are here to help Rice researchers concentrate on their science while the Champions concentrate on policies, procedures, and the technical details of accessing the TeraGrid. If you need help from the Campus Champions, please inform the Help Desk.

TeraGrid FAQ for Rice Users

Please see our TeraGrid FAQ that has been written specifically for Rice users of the TeraGrid to quickly find key information about applying for accounts, submitting jobs, and getting help.