With the CRC's condo service, a Principle Investigator (PI) invests in compute+storage hardware that is placed in the CRC data center and added to the HPC cluster. Participants in the condo service share unused portions or elements of the resource with each other and non-invested users (such as students or occasional users) who do not pay a fee for access.
Condo membership is granted to a PI who buys compute nodes to plug into existing infrastructure. Unused portions of these resources (i.e.; compute cycles) will be shared among other condominium users until the primary user requires access to the resource. A queue management system gives vested PIs top priority to the hardware he/she has purchased for a defined period (below) whenever the PI needs the resource. We use wall-time limits and/or pre-emption to interrupt other users' jobs as needed to give vested PIs access to their share.
Common infrastructure elements such as the environmentally regulated data center, network connectivity, equipment racks, management and technical staff, etc. allow the PI to focus time and energy on research.
Benefits
There are two account options for new hardware purchases, one in which the PI retains ownership and one where the CRC will become the owner.
A PI will have priority access to any hardware purchased for the period of the standard warranty of the hardware. During this time any hardware problems will be corrected as soon as possible given the warranty terms. After the warranty is expired, the PI will have standard shared access to the compute nodes, and the hardware will be supported on a Best Effort basis until is suffers complete failure. Once a node has reached End of Life due to failure or obsolescence, it will be removed from service and either returned to the PI or surplussed. Hardware can be returned to the PI at any time.
PI's will receive Condominium Accounts for each member of their research group, each of which will have priority scheduling on the PI's condo compute nodes. Condominium accounts are described below. If the PI chooses to pay for additional Standard or Satellite accounts, those can also have priority scheduling on the condo hardware at the PI's request.
PI's will be given Standard or Satellite accounts of equivalent value to the hardware purchased (based on current rates, subject to annual updates), and those accounts will have priority scheduling on the PI's condo compute nodes for the duration of the warranty period. The CRC will correct any hardware problems as soon as possible given the warranty terms. At the end of the warranty period, the CRC will maintain the condo compute nodes on a Best Effort basis until the hardware suffers systemic failure. Hardware cannot be returned to the PI.
Minimum specifications for nodes:
Additional optional hardware:
Please contact the CRC to assist with hardware specifications before placing an order, we will not be responsible for misconfigured servers that we did not assist in ordering.
If a PI has existing compute/storage hardware and is interested in adding to the CRC cluster there are two alternatives: 1) PI retains ownership and maintains hardware. In this case the PI and (those they deem appropriate) will have priority access to the server(s) for as long as they fund hardware maintenance costs. These costs include things such as replacing failed components (hard drives, power supplies, etc). PI's (and other members of their research group) will be granted Condominium accounts. 2) Alternatively, if the PI transfers ownership of the hardware to the CRC, the CRC will fund hardware maintenance on a Best Effort basis, replacing ancillary components such as hard drives, fans, etc. In this case, the PI will not have priority access, but will be granted Condominium accounts.
The hardware must meet these minimum specifications:
Condominium Accounts are granted to PI's and those individuals (students, faculty, staff) a condominium PI requests have access to their compute nodes:
Members of the UI research community who would like access to the CRC compute resources for academic purposes will be provided a Free account at no charge. PI's, Postdocs, and Graduate students can submit account requests directly, undergraduate students must be sponsored by a faculty member or instructor. Undergraduate accounts will automatically terminate at the end of each academic semester unless otherwise requested. All Free accounts have the following restrictions:
updated 2018-11-07
Previous version available here
