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Access to HPC systems
Overview of services available
| Service | Description | Help and support | Size and speed of the facility | How to apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local computers | Some faculties, departments and even individual research groups at the university and research affiliates run their own small HPC systems. These are generally available to researchers and research students associated with those groups. | Help is generally available from the person or group looking after the system. | It varies considerably, from small servers with lots of memory and multiple processors, through to small HPC clusters. | Get in touch with your Faculty IT Manager, or your local systems administrator to find out about availability. |
| ITS Research Services | ITS Research Services runs a small HPC Cluster (edward) which is available free of charge to researchers and research students affiliated with the University of Melbourne. | There is a dedicated HPC Research Computing Specialist in Research Services who is here to help you out, whether you're a beginner or an experienced user. |
The edward cluster consists of 48 nodes, each with 16 cores and 32GB of memory, connected by 10GB Ethernet and supported by over 100TB of computational storage. It's suited to all sort of work, but it's best used for smaller types of jobs (it's not optimised for large parallel jobs).
|
You can apply to use this service at any time. |
| VPAC | University researchers and research students can access the VPAC high performance facility and through VPAC, the MASSIVE specialist facility |
VPAC conducts regular workshops for beginners and experienced users alike. These tend to be quite popular. Help using the VPAC facility is also available for users. |
VPACs main HPC system, trifid, features 2,880 Intel E5-2670 cores. Most nodes are configured with 4 GB memory per core and 6 nodes have 16 GB per core. The interconnect is FDR Infiniband. Working storage is an Infiniband connected DDN "S2" high performance storage array with lustre parallel file systems. GPU accelerated nodes are available. Tango, an older HPC system remains in operation. A wide range of applications are available. |
University users have access to a limited allocation of VPAC services. Contact the Research Office for further information. Applications to use VPAC can be made at any time of the year through the VPAC application website. Applications to use MASSIVE can be lodged through the MASSIVE application web page. |
| VLSCI | VLSCI is a large computer facility based at the University of Melbourne. It is available to all Victorian researchers working in the area of life-sciences. | To effectively use their HPC systems, regular workshops are scheduled which offer training in approaches to HPC. Help is available via the VLSCI help desk. | The computers at VLSCI are made of out thousands or processors and are at the cutting edge of these sorts of systems world wide, dedicated to the area of life sciences research. You can find out more about their HPC systems on their website. | You can get access to the VLSCI computers by applying via their Resource Allocation Scheme (RAS). |
| NCI | The NCI (National Computational Infrastructure) is hosted by the Australian National University and provides Australian researchers with high-end HPC systems. | There is a dedicated NCI support team available to users of the facility. | The current NCI system has 11,936 computer cores, inter-connected by a high-speed network fabric. It's suited to all sorts of work, but it's best used for large parallel types of software. they also have a comprehensive software library, as well as a mass data storage system. | You can get access to the NCI computer by applying via their Merit Allocation Scheme. |
Getting access to ITS systems
- 1. Fast-track access
- We can fast-track your HPC account if you already have a preferred solution and/or ITS already has a solution. (Refer to our list of applications currently implemented on edward.)
- Fast-track accounts have access to a maximum of 64 cores and have a 20GB disc allocation.
- 2. Standard application
- This is used when the fast-track resources are insufficient or you require additional assistance, such as having software installed. Applications are usually processed within a few days of receipt.
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