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High Performance Computing (HPC) at UH

Your Guide to Creating a High Performance Computing Account at the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center (ARSC)

As a University of Hawaii (UH) faculty member, student, or research employee, you are eligible to use any of the academic resources available at ARSC. These instructions outline the few simple steps necessary to establish your account and start running jobs. This information has been condensed from the ARSC web site, which will prove a useful resource should you need help.

The cluster currently available for use at ARSC is Midnight, a 2312-processor Sun Opteron Cluster. It is relatively straightforward to port code that has been running on a workstation to Midnight, as it uses a Linux operating system, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) version 9.3. There is some commercial software available on Midnight as well, and you can view the list on the ARSC web site. If you want to use commercial software that is not listed, it is worth asking them to purchase it before you go out and buy it yourself. If others have also asked for it, they may consider buyig it and providing it for the community at large, thus saving you the investment as an individual researcher.

Getting an Account on Midnight

The following steps must be taken to obtain an account on Midnight:

Step 1 Apply for a UserID

Apply for a UserID at http://www.arsc.edu/support/accounts/applyuserid.html.

When applying for your UserID, you will need to provide proof of citizenship.

U.S. citizens must provide ONE of the following:

Foreign Nationals must provide ALL of the following: OR

Step 2 Apply for a Project Account ID

Apply for a Project Account ID at http://www.arsc.edu/support/accounts/applyresources.html. If you are applying for a UserID (new user on an existing account, or new user on an existing team project), skip this step and use the existing account number in Step 3 when asked for it. You can get it from your project PI.

Step 5 Complete the Information Assurance Awareness Training

Every ARSC user must complete either the DoD IAA online Training or the ARSC IA Training. When completed, the certificate of completion should be printed, signed, dated, and FAXed to 907-450-8601.

Step 3 Account Agreement and Credentials Receipt

After you have received your SecureID card and the password and credentials to use it, your account will not be activated until you return a signed Account Agreement and Credentials Receipt. There are two (2) forms, one for those who are receiving their SecureID card from ARSC, and another for users who have a SecureID card issued by another site. Be sure to print, sign and FAX the correct form to 907-450-8601. Please note that a brief annual report is due each year you have an active account, and by signing one of these forms, you agree to follow the policies of ARSC and to submit such a report.

After you complete these simple steps, your account will be activated, and you will be able to access Midnight (or Pingo when it comes online). Please contact the ARSC support center should you have any questions, email adv-cyber@hawaii.edu.