Default Project

Each account on the system has an assigned default Project. Any computing resources you use will be applied to it. You can see the list of projects that you belong to by typing “groups” on the command line. The first one listed is your default project. Note that Projects are implemented as Linux groups.

There are four ways to control which project your batch system jobs are run under:

  1. When you submit a job you can override the default by using the -P projectname flag. This flag is required if you are on any BUMC projects, even if on only one project.
  2. For frequent use, you can include it in your .sge_request file in your home directory.
  3. You can change the project for the current session by typing newgrp projectname on the command line.
  4. You can permanently change your default project on your individual Research Computing User Information page. Your default project will be changed the next time the system configuration files are updated, generally overnight.

Update User Information (for account holders)

Researchers can update their personal contact information, change their default project and/or shell,  and set or change their local SCC linux (non Kerberos password) on the Research Computing User Information page. On that page, they can also view current Project data.

Disk quota

All users have a 10 GB quota for their home directory. Most researchers will need more space for their research data and should use Project Disk Space. New Projects are granted a small amount by default and LPIs can request up to the maximum of Free space and purchase or rent amounts over the Free baseline. You can Check How Much Space you are Using with the pquota command.

Monitoring Usage

Every month individual researchers are sent a summary of their own CPU usage for each project they are on. Individuals may also see the current project balances and their own usage total for all projects they are members of on the Research Computing User Information page; this page includes information on both CPU and Project Disk usage.

For more detailed information, you can use the pquota (for Project Disk Space usage) and acctool (for CPU usage information) commands on the system.

Passwords and Access

Use your Kerberos password for both logging into the SCC and accessing Research Computing Accounts Management web materials. Passwordless access is not permitted.

For members of the BU community, new SCC accounts will use your BU login name and Kerberos password. External users must set a BU login and Kerberos password and are sent instructions for doing so at the time of account creation.

For more information on passwords and access, please see the Access and Security Policies page.

News and announcements

In addition to regular usage reporting, we will occasionally make important announcements regarding software and hardware upgrades, downtime, etc. These announcements can come in several forms; the most important ones may use all three of the mechanisms below:

  • Email sent to your bu_login_name@bu.edu email address. If you are not reading this directly, you should make sure it is forwarded to somewhere that you do read mail.
  • Posted to the SCC Status web page, which also shows if the system is having any major technical difficulties.
  • Posted to system messages which can be read using the msgs command. This is usually enabled by default so that you see new messages posted since your last login each time you connect to the system.