Purchase of High Performance Computing (HPC) Central Storage Resources for Research Support

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Purchase of High Performance Computing (HPC) Central Storage Resources for Research Support"

Lucinda Johnson
8 years ago
Views:

1 Information Technology Purchase of High Performance Computing (HPC) Central Storage Resources for Research Support Effective for FY2016 Purpose This memo summarizes High Performance Computing (HPC) storage resources that are available centrally to Northwestern University faculty engaged in research. Some basic storage services are provided at no direct cost to the user. However, as described herein, other storage resources require the contribution of funds. Summary of HPC Storage Resources for Research Northwestern University Information Technology (NUIT) provides centrally funded HPC resources for research computing. Housed at the University s central data centers, these resources benefit from a secure, reliable, and stable environment and are designed to meet the storage needs of our researchers. Vault Storage Resources Vault is the University s central storage platform for research information that can work in tandem with Quest, the University s central HPC system for research, to support Northwestern faculty research activities. Three types of storage services are available: 1. Vault Collaborative Research Storage, 2. Vault Supplementary Research Storage, and 3. Vault HPC Storage. In addition to the resources listed above, NUIT will create dedicated virtual guest servers for Northwestern faculty researchers to host web and database services that may facilitate the sharing of research results or otherwise fulfill requirements of funding agencies. Virtual servers are provided upon request at no charge. Obtaining Vault Storage To obtain Vault storage, the requesting researcher must be a member of the Northwestern faculty. The first 50 GBs of Vault Collaborative Research Storage is provided at no charge. To obtain additional storage, a letter of intent must be completed and signed by the requesting faculty member and approved by NUIT, The Office of the Provost, and The Office for Research. The letter of intent must contain the amount of funds that the researcher will make available to the University for the requested storage resources and an account number from which the funds will be transferred. If funds are not available Revised: June19 th 2015 Page 1

However, as described herein, other storage resources require the contribution of funds.

2 when the letter of intent is submitted, the requesting faculty member must provide documentation specifying when funds will be available. (Please see Appendix A for the Letter of Intent form.) Technical Research Computing Staff Support for Researchers To facilitate access to and use of research computing resources, NUIT research computing technical staff work directly with Northwestern University researchers. This includes providing workshops and training sessions on using Quest, Vault and other computing resources. They also describe new applications and technologies related to research in high performance computing and research computing. Additional details can be found at: Vault Storage Resources Vault is the University s central storage platform for research information that can work in tandem with Quest, the University s central HPC system for research, to support Northwestern faculty research activities. Three types of storage services are available: Equipment Description and Cost 1. Vault Collaborative Research Storage This is a Web-based tool for collaborative research data storage services. By using this secure, central repository, users can upload to their desktops, store, and share research data, such as datasets, proposals, digitized video, and images. At no charge, this research storage service offers: a. Access to the service through Web and desktop clients; b. Ability to share data with internal and external collaborators for specified time periods; c. 50 GBs storage space per account; d. Creation of project spaces upon request. Northwestern faculty members may obtain additional Vault Collaborative Research Storage to support their personal and collaborative research needs in minimum increments of 100 GBs. The cost per 100 GBs increment is $76. Vault Collaborative Research Storage is not accessible on Quest. Please review the storage options below if additional Quest storage is needed. 2. Vault Supplementary Research Storage This storage platform is connected to Quest and select research instrumentation through lowerbandwidth IP networking. It is intended to facilitate data analysis pipelines, workflows, and meet the need for persistent storage of large-scale results from Quest computations. Vault Supplementary Research Storage is only available to Northwestern faculty members in minimum increments of 500 GBs: a. The cost per 500 GB increment is $190 (unreplicated) Revised: January 15 th 2015 Page 2

University researchers. This includes providing workshops and training sessions on using Quest, Vault and other computing resources.

3 3. Vault HPC Storage This storage platform connects to Quest compute nodes through an InfiniBand fabric, enabling high-speed access to read and write data. Sometimes, research projects require additional amounts of this highly connected storage to support research objectives. It should be considered only when Vault Supplementary Research Storage is not sufficient to support a particular research application. Vault HPC Storage is allocated through project spaces available to Quest users. Because project spaces do not have backup mechanisms, users must copy important data into their home directories on Quest to be eligible for data retention routines. Vault HPC Storage is only available to Northwestern faculty members in minimum increments of 500GBs at a cost of $820. Vault storage services pricing in this document is good until August 31, NUIT will periodically review pricing for Vault storage services. The latest version of this document, along with most current pricing, is available at: Installation Cycles Vault data storage is expanded regularly throughout the year. Each expansion is a 4-8 week process in which the Vault data storage capacity needs are gathered and expansion decisions are made. Duration of Access to Additional Vault Storage Access to the additional Vault Storage (Vault Collaborative Research Storage in excess of 50 GBs, Vault Supplementary Research Storage, or Vault HPC Storage) is guaranteed for a period of five years from the date of the installation of the funded hardware expansion. Revised: January 15 th 2015 Page 3

It should be considered only when Vault Supplementary Research Storage is not sufficient to support a particular research application.

4 Appendix A LETTER OF INTENT: Additional Vault Storage To obtain additional Vault storage (Vault Collaborative Research Storage in excess of 50 GBs, Vault Supplementary Research Storage, or Vault HPC Storage), the requesting researcher must be a member of the Northwestern faculty. A letter of intent must be completed and signed by the requesting faculty member and reviewed by NUIT. It will then be forwarded with NUIT s approvals to The Office of the Provost and The Office for Research. The letter of intent must contain the amount of funds that the researcher will make available to the University for the requested storage resources and an account number from which the funds will be transferred. If funds are not available when the letter of intent is submitted, the requesting faculty member must provide documentation specifying when funds will be available. For planning purposes, a plan describing how the investment should be distributed among research computing resources must be provided. This initial distribution will be considered an estimate only. When final costs are determined the researcher may make adjustments to the distribution of the investment. See the following page for a template letter of intent. Revised: January 15 th 2015 Page 4

It will then be forwarded with NUIT s approvals to The Office of the Provost and The Office for Research.

5 Letter of Intent to Obtain Additional Vault Storage : Faculty Sponsor: Funding Total: Funds availability date: Services availability date: The Faculty Sponsor commits the indicated funding amount(s) and source(s) to NUIT to purchase and install the following equipment and/or services, in exchange for the described premium user privileges: Item Description of equipment/services and privileges Funding Amount Char string Revised: January 15 th 2015 Page 5

purchase and install the following equipment and/or services, in exchange for the described premium user

6 Faculty Sponsor: NU Information Technology Office of the Provost Office for Research Dean s Office Revised: January 15 th 2015 Page 6

Purchase of High Performance Computing (HPC) Central Compute Resources by Northwestern Researchers

Information Technology Purchase of High Performance Computing (HPC) Central Compute Resources by Northwestern Researchers Effective for FY2016 Purpose This document summarizes High Performance Computing