What is the ASDRP Server Cluster?

ASDRP provides our researchers with a state-of-the-art Dell PowerEdge Server Cluster (fourteen x R710 + two x R610) equipped with a total of 180 physical cores & 360 virtual cores (Intel Xeon X5660 dual-threaded processors) @ 2.80 GHz, 128 GB RAM, over 10 TB of disc storage space, and plenty of computational power to spare for all research needs. The server cluster is available via remote access for all student researchers involved in computational research at ASDRP.

​

Do I get my own user ID?

Each principal investigator (advisor) will be given a set number of user ID's proportional to the expected computational load. It is the research advisor's discretion to allocate each user ID for being shared between 2-4 students. Research students should create their own sub-directory in their designated user ID account. User ID's are named by the first letter of the PI's first name & the first two letters of the PI's last name [lower case] plus an integer in ascending order (e.g. Josiah Smith = jsm1, jsm2, jsm3 etc.).

 

What kind of operating system does the server operate on?

The server cluster uses Ubuntu (Linux) in a command line environment. This was chosen to maximize computational performance, reducing the overhead of a desktop environment, & duplicating environments that will be encountered by the researcher as they continue their research careers.

 

What software is available on the cluster?

The server cluster is equipped with all software that was requested by research advisors, including data mining platforms, physical chemistry software, biophysical modeling software, and a quantum computing simmulator, among others.

 

How long are files retained on the server?

Files are retained for up to 18 days. After that, they will be deleted [with PI permission] to make disk space for new files. We do not recommend storing files on the server cluster long-term. ​

 

Who should I contact if I need help?

Email support@asdrp.org to contact our server management and computer science & engineering technical group, if you have questions or if you have trouble accessing the server.

​