How to create a Tier-1 project

Beware that using the Cenaero-hosed Tier-1 cluster is subject to specific conditions. If you agree to these conditions, then you can submit a project though this web page, where a form must be filled. The form contains three sections, that are detailed here-after. The project creation request is then reviewed by the CÉCI and the project is created. An overview of the process can be seen here.

Please note that only researchers holding a permanent position within their university are allowed to create projects.

1. Identify the project

Name and Acronym

Please name your project and give it an acronym that will uniquely identify it through the process. You'll need to communicate that acronym to your colleagues whom you want to register to that project.

Project category

In the document 'Accord sur les modalités d'utilisation d'un supercalculateur (PRACE)', several project categories are defined. Those categories have an impact on the costs of accessing and using the Tier-1 cluster, so it must be specified precisely when requesting the creation of a Tier-1 project.

The categories are defined (in French) as follows:

(CAT 1) la recherche fondamentale, soit les activités de recherche amont ou fondamentales principalement menées par des chercheurs universitaires dans le cadres de projet de type doctorats, postdoctorats, actions concertées de recherche, pôles d'attractivité, grane Marie-Curie, EIT, etc dont le financement ne prévoit pas de budget de calcul intensif ou l'accès à des supercalculateurs mais couvre essentiellement les frais de personnel en recherche ;

(CAT 2) toutes autres activités de projet du type projets de recherche européens, régionaux ou fédéraux (FP7, ERA-NET, Plan Marshall, etc) axés plutôt sur de la recherche appliquée en partenariat avec des industriels et pour lesquels une enveloppe budgétaire de calcul intensif est prévue ;

(CAT 3) des contrats financés par des industriels pour lesquels une enveloppe budgétaire de calcul intensif est possible ;

(CAT 4) l'utilisation directe des machines par des industriels.

The costs associated with CAT 1 are already pre-paid, while those associated with CAT2 and above are specified in the Tier-1 documentation. Make sure to provide with a description of the project that justifies the category to which the project corresponds.

2. Provide a description

The description should include

a short abstract whose content will help building summaries and reports;
elements of justification of the Category you chose;
any additional requirements you might have; optionaly with
a justification for those additional requirements (see below.)

3. Setup the details

Requested CPU hours

Please provide an estimation of how much CPU hours your project will need. You will get regular reports of the CPU hours consumed by your project.

Requested disk space (permanent and temporary)

Each user automatically gets a permanent home directory with a non-negociable 50 GB quota.

Beside that space, by default, the project will be offered a 50GB permanent shared home directory on /projects. You can request more than 50GB, and if you ask for less than 300GB, it will automatically be granted. If you ask for more, please justify your request in the project description.

Besides that space, your project will have access to a temporary IO-performant scratch space (100GB by default on /SCRATCH). Please note that jobs that generate a log of disk IO must use that space. If you need more, you can request up to 1TB. If you need more than 1TB, you'll justify what you need it.

Each research unit furthermore gets a 100GB shared scratch space independently from any project.

Expiration date

You can optionally supply with another expiration date after which the project will be considered finished. By default, the expiration date is set to 3 years after project creation.

Users

You can directly add CÉCI users to your project if you know their login, but the users also can register by themselves afterwards using the account manangement interface (third item 'join an existing project'), in which case you are notified of their registration.

The field has auto-completion so you just need to type first few letters and then choose from the list. Your login is automatically added for you. You then need to tick the box stating that you accept the terms and conditions pertaining to the use of the Tier-1 facility.

4. Submit your request

Hit the Send button. Your request will be reviewed by a system administrator and forwarded to the team who operates the Tier-1 cluster Zenobe. You will then receive an email once the project is ready.

Projects FAQ

How do I request more resources?

To update the resources your project need simply go the the project create page and choose option 'update a project'. The process is identical to the creation process.

How do I add users to my project?

You can use the above-mentioned link to add users to the projects, but the easied option is to ask the user to register to the project by himself using the CÉCI account management web interface. Make sure to tell the user to choose the 'Join existing project' option and give him/her the acronym of your project.

Is it possible to make a reservation for special needs ?

Reservations can be requested for specific reasons, and with specific rules. See here.