HPC Resource Allocation

HPC Resource Allocation

This process is provided by Intersect to support resource allocation across our various HPC and other resources. It can be used at any time to make requests for access.

Intersect runs two resource allocation rounds per year when researchers from member institutions can apply for allocations for both/either Vayu and McLaren. Rounds open in February for the period April-September, and in August for October-March. Accounting is done in quarters (Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep, Oct-Dec).

HPC resources have been allocated for the period 1 January 2012 till 31 March 2012, on both McLaren and the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) peak facility in Canberra. The next call for applications will occur in February 2012.

The Resource Allocation Request system has two parts:
•    a user account application form. This is for new users who have not been given an account on McLaren or NCI yet. This includes project leaders/proposers and any collaborators/students who wish to gain access to project allocations.
•    a resource allocation request form. This is for all users to provide the justification of their request (the research and the need for some level of resources on either or both systems).

Intersect is keen to encourage the uptake of HPC methods in research across its members. We are actively encouraging new users, including from smaller institutions, non-traditional HPC disciplines, as well as research students, to avail themselves of the opportunity to gain access to major HPC facilities. This means we will accept small-scale "experimental" proposals (at any time), as well as larger proposals for significant levels of resources that are requested through the allocation rounds.

If you require any assistance with either form please email hpc_support@intersect.org.au.

Available resources

Intersect has access to a fixed number of Service Units (SUs) on Vayu through its partner share of NCI, and also a fixed number of SUs on McLaren.  For McLaren about 500 kSUs and for Vayu about 1,100 kSUs are available each quarter.  1 SU corresponds to 1 CPU core hour computing on McLaren (SGI Altix shared memory machine, 256 cores) and Vayu (Nehalem based Sun Linux Cluster, 12,000 cores). Allocation and usage is normally shown in kSUs = 1,000 SUs.

In addition, members can apply directly to NCI’s Merit Allocation Scheme for resources additional to Intersect’s partner share, and Intersect encourages them to do so, see below.

How are HPC resources allocated?

Requests for Intersect HPC Resources are assessed and allocated by an independent committee known as the Resource Allocation Committee, made up of representatives from each of Intersect’s member institutions.  Usually requests are received for around 2.5 times the amount of available resources, so requests need to be carefully assessed and fair amounts allocated by the RAC committee.

Important factors the committee considers to determine the allocation of resources include the quality of the research argument, the track record of previous granted resources and the suitability of the chosen hardware and software.  Allocations are made to support a wide base of users, including those just starting out with HPC or from smaller institutions.

New users are encouraged to use Intersect’s HPC facilities. New and small projects are granted in full if possible. The threshold for the definition of a small project is defined in each round and is normally around 20-40 kSUs.

Other projects are allocated using a “fair share” principle.  In recent rounds, it is common for projects to be allocated half or less of the amount requested.

Current quarter

The actual usage for the current calendar quarter is shown at Intersect’s website (see below). Allocation for the quarter, usage to date, balance remaining and predicted usage for the quarter is presented for each machine (McLaren or Vayu) and for each project running on the machine, using anonymised project codes.

McLaren Usage: http://www.intersect.org.au/hpc-usage
Vayu Usage: http://www.intersect.org.au/hpc-usage-vayu

Mid-quarter review

To maximise HPC usage we evaluate the usage of each project after 6 weeks (middle of the quarter) and may re-distribute resources if necessary.

NCI's Merit Allocation Scheme

For compute time in addition to Intersect's partner share of NCI, please consider making an application to NCI's Merit Allocation Scheme (MAS). Please note that MAS applications are made via NCI's (not Intersect's) webpage: https://nf.nci.org.au/accounts/#projects.