Frequently Asked Questions
New to high-performance computing? Read our FAQs to find out more about how ARCTIC resources can help with your research.
When you use a computer to perform a scientific computation or analysis, you fundamentally perform arithmetic calculations, i.e. addition, subtraction, and multiplication. High performance computing (HPC) can optimize these simple operations through balancing performance across every component of the system. This includes file storage, network communication, memory, and the actual computations. By properly tuning each of these components for your specific computations, HPC can speed up your calculations 1000-fold or more.
The team at ARCTIC can help you fine tune your calculations and algorithms to utilize every component of our cluster, so you can get results faster.
You will get limited free access to HPC resources to get started. Need more resources? You can request additional resources via elpis.rs.gsu.edu subject to the approval of the Research Allocation Committee. You will need to outline what resources you need, how you are using them, and how that helps support your research. Storage resources are free up to certain limit. The cost for additional storage is very reasonable and much cheaper than storage from commercial cloud providers.
While our data storage systems provide many security features, data security is not a one-sided process. It involves both security measures at the infrastructure level, as well as user training on best practices, protocols and procedures. We will work with you to find a solution that meets your needs. However, do not assume that the general storage ARCTIC provides is HIPAA compliant. Currently, we strongly recommend you use HIPAA compliant cloud resources for storing any data involving identifiable personal health information. You can use our storage after removing the PHI information from your dataset.
Consult with us for more help.
Anyone with permanent affiliation with Georgia State University can get PI status and free startup access to our resources. This includes faculty and staff. PI's can add other GSU or non GSU users to their projects.
If you need access for a class, the instructor can request ARCTIC resources for instructional purposes. Students can get access to resources through an educational allocation.
Anyone who performs computationally intensive research could benefit from ARCTIC resources. However, the performance benefits require some investment.
For example, if you have a smaller workload that successfully runs on a laptop or desktop in a few hours that you only plan to run a few times, then the coding effort required to effectively use HPC resources might outweigh the benefits. However, if you are planning to perform similar computations for a year, then it will be worthwhile to start using ARCTIC resources.
ARCTIC will conduct regular training on our resources and what you can do with them. The current schedule is available at https://arctic.gsu.edu/training/. You can also schedule a consulting appointment with our team about your specific computational needs and how we can help you get started with using HPC resources.