CSCS¶
Every Empa laboratory can request access to the High-Performance Computing (HPC) resources provided by the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS). The Scientific IT team at Empa is responsible for managing the collaboration with CSCS. The main goal is to provide Empa researchers with technical support regarding HPC-related problems and long-term projects.
New CSCS users¶
To start your HPC journey, you can contact us as described on the contact page. We will provide you with necessary instructions on how to get an account at CSCS and run your first computations.
To kickstart your project, we will offer you some free compute time to familiarize yourself with the system. Once you are ready to scale up your project, you can apply for a larger allocation of computing resources in three different ways:
- On-demand resources: you pay for the compute time you use. No commitment is required, and you can use the resources whenever you need them. At the end of the year we will bill your laboratory for the resources used. This is the most expensive option.
- Pre-allocated resources: a fixed amount of compute time is allocated each quarter. Any unused time will be lost at the end of the period. This option is cheaper than the on-demand resources but requires a commitment from your laboratory. Like the on-demand resources, we will bill your laboratory at the end of the year.
- Production projects: if you have a project that requires a large amount of compute time, you can apply for a production project. This will be reviewed by a CSCS committee and if approved, you will get a fixed amount of compute resources. To learn more about the application process, please visit the CSCS website. This option will not require any payment from your laboratory, but you must submit a strong proposal.
To learn about the prices and the available resources, please visit the CSCS website.
Platform overview¶
CSCS provides a range of computing resources, including storage, compute power, and software. To get an overview of the available resources, please visit the CSCS website.
Support¶
Scientific IT aims at providing support to users on many HPC tasks. For example:
- Running massively parallel calculations (i.e., known to scale up to hundreds of compute nodes)
- Efficient running of single-core calculations/post-processing analyses
- Interactive compute with Jupyter Lab
Check out the guidelines on how to send an effective support request by e-mail.
About Empa collaboration with CSCS¶
Empa currently has a contract with the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) as the main provider of multiple compute resource allocations. This partnership replaced the in-house cluster that was previously available to Empa users.