Statement of Purpose
OIT and the Unix Systems Group operate a high performance compute (HPC) cluster in order to facilitate compute intensive research being undertaken at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and its collaborating institutions. As computational techniques become important to an increasing number of research fields, interest in maintaining computational resources for research groups has grown across campus. For many researchers, it is very difficult to build up the computational infrastructure needed: hardware, networking, facility space, and cooling are all needed. In addition, dedicated experts are required to design, set up, and operate a compute cluster of any non-trivial size. We understand that most researchers just want the computing capability and don't want to dedicate the time and money needed to run a computing facility of their own. To support these researchers, the Unix Systems Group of OIT hosts the computer hardware and provides administrators to operate the cluster. This collaboration has many advantages:
- It allows researchers to concentrate efforts and funds on other needs.
- It gives researchers access to a larger amount of computing resources than they could otherwise afford (opportunistic usage of free computer cycles).
- It reduces redundant efforts to host computers in many different locations around campus.
- It gives all researchers access to the knowledge and experience required to operate and use an HPC cluster for their research.
We support two modes of participation:
- Use of the cluster by general researchers and students when excess resources are available,
- Priority use by researchers who provide hardware and/or monetary support for the cluster.
We encourage university researchers who are interested in participating to submit an
Account Application, contact Gerald Ragghianti (
geri@utk.edu) for details, or join the
USG_HPCC mailing list.
