Research Computing Center

Introduction to the Research Computing Center resources and services

The Research Computing Center (RCC) provides the University of Chicago community with access to high-end computing, data storage, and visualization resources, as well as a wide variety of software packages, workshops, and one-on-one consulting by computational scientists. 

The RCC Midway high-Performance computing (HPC) ecosystem includes a range of cross-mounted systems, such as the Midway2 (Shared Nodes, DaLI, GM4), Midway3 (Shared Nodes, MidwaySSD, Beagle3); the MidwayR for restricted or sensitive data in the Secure Data Enclave; and the Skyway platform for seamless access to commercial cloud resources like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform   (GCP). This hands-on workshop will introduce participants to the computational resources and services available at the RCC. 

What we'll cover: 

• Overview of RCC programs and services, including the Cluster Partnership Program (CPP), Consultant Partnership Program (ConPP), grant support, and the affiliate program with Argonne. 

• Key differences between Midway2 and Midway3 compute and storage ecosystems. 

•  File transfer techniques within Midway systems and between external locations (e.g.: personal PCs, lab computers, and other clouds)  using SFTP, SCP, Globus, and SMB.

  • Transferring files within and between Midway2 and Midway3 ecosystems.

  • Introduction to the Secure Data Enclave (SDE) for handling sensitive research data.

• Running jobs interactively and in the queue using the SLURM job scheduler.

  • Creating and running jobs using SLURM.

  • Leveraging the Skyway platform to access and use cloud resources.

• Policies regarding computing resource usage (QoS) and data storage (quota).

  • Understanding the concept of Service Units (SU) allocations.

What you'll learn from the workshop: 

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Differentiate between Midway2 and Midway3 computing and storage ecosystems.

• Execute Linux commands proficiently on Midway clusters.

• Manage and transfer data effectively within the Midway ecosystem and with external systems. 

• Run jobs interactively and via batch scripts using SLURM. 

• Understand RCC policies on computing resource usage (QoS) and data storage (quotas).

• Perform file transfers within Midway ecosystems and with external locations.

• Access RCC programs and services, including grant support, Cluster Partnership Program (CPP), Consultant Partnership Program (ConPP), and the Affiliate Program with Argonne. 

Level: Introductory 

Duration: 2 hours 

Prerequisites: None 

Register