The HPC service is shared between many users and it is easy for one person to cause problems for others.  You are expected to behave in a considerate way when you use the service.

The login nodes

The login nodes are for low-intensity, interactive work such as managing your files, compiling code, running short test cases and submitting jobs.

Do not run intensive jobs on the login nodes.  The login nodes are shared between all users and can easily be disrupted by intensive jobs.  Use SLURM to submit jobs to the compute nodes instead.  Jobs that cause problems on the login nodes will be killed.

Be aware of your memory (RAM) use.  Matlab in particular can use a lot of RAM.

Storage space

No space on Rocket is intended for long-term data storage and it should not be used for that.  You will need to arrange your own backup or archiving of important files.

The filespace /nobackup is shared between all users and is not controlled by quotas.  Be considerate in the space you use.

Remove files that are not in active use on Rocket.  Files that have not been used for 3 months are liable to automatic deletion, after two emailed warnings. 

If the Lustre filestor becomes very full, we reserve the right to remove files belonging to people whose use is excessive or that are old and not in use, in order to allow the system to continue functioning.

Use the local storage on compute nodes ($TMPDIR) for large temporary files and intensive I/O.  

Remember that the security of your data is your responsibility.   If your work involves data that can identify individuals or that are sensitive for commercial or other reasons, be aware of all relevant legal and commercial requirements and take responsibility for compliance. Genetic and biometric data are considered sensitive under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).  See https://research.ncl.ac.uk/rdm/working/handlingofpersonalandsensitivedata/.

Submitting and running jobs

Know your jobs.  Start with a small test job if you need to, and make sure that your jobs behave well. If you need to reserve most of a node’s memory or local storage for a job, add the following line to your job script to request exclusive use of the node.

#SBATCH --exclusive

Do not request bigger nodes than your jobs need.  The larger (bigmem) nodes are for jobs that need them.

if you use commercial software, be careful with your licence usage so that you do not block access for other users.  Be particularly careful with applications such as Fluent and Matlab, whose licences are also used for teaching on other systems.  Your jobs may be killed if they cause a problem.

Software

If you install software yourself, you are responsible for complying with any terms and conditions imposed by that software's licence.

Some software on Rocket is not licensed for commercial use.  You must contact the Rocket team for advice if this could affect your work.

University IT usage policy

Comply with the University policy on use of IT facilities: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/itservice/rules/