Computing

BU has acquired 384 compute cores and 16 GPUs to support academic courses; course projects are automatically given priority access to this resource. Students also have access to the SCC “shared” resources on a fair-share basis.

Course projects are allocated 5,000 SUs by default. Instructors (Project LPIs) can request additional SUs in up to 10,000 SU increments with a maximum of 30,000 SUs for the year. If more is needed, the request will be reviewed by the SCC Large Allocation Committee.

There may be times when the SCC, in general, or particular resources are busy and jobs are forced to wait in the queue. This is normal as the fair-share batch system manages jobs from the 3,000 researchers and students who use the SCC. Students can minimize their wait time by requesting the minimum resources required  for their jobs. They can monitor the status of their jobs using the qstat command.

Storage

Academic course projects receive their storage allocation from the AcademicPool Buy-in Storage Pool. They will no longer receive an allocation from the Free storage pool. For previously existing course projects, allocations have already been retroactively moved from the Free to the AcademicPool storage pool. This distinction permits research LPIs to have their 3 TB maximum Free storage limit dedicated to their research projects.

  • By default, academic course projects each receive 1TB quota from the AcademicPool storage pool in /projectnb/projectname.
  • Note that allocations are in /projectnb, not /project.
  • On the rare occasion that confidential data might be used in the course, the instructor should contact us at help@scc.bu.edu to properly set up access in /restricted/projectnb/.
  • Should a course require more than 1 TB, the allocation can be increased upon request, but it will be reverted back to 1 TB at the end of the semester.
  • At the end of each semester, work with your students to clean up their files.

Software

The SCC has many software packages and libraries available for use. The SCC uses the module system to manage software packages and versions.

Faculty and T.A.s/T.F.s should coordinate software requests on behalf of their students. To request additional software for your course, the Instructor or T.A./T.F. should fill out the software request form.

Service Level Expectations

The SCC is normally available 24 by 7 except for standard change windows, as described in IS&T’s standard policies, procedures, and schedules for making changes. Additionally, the MGHPCC, where the SCC is housed, has annual maintenance which requires scheduled downtime. Since most of the MGHPCC facility is not protected with backup power, the SCC is subject to electric utility power outages.

Service requests are answered and in-person help are available during business hours: Monday – Friday, 9 am – 5 pm.