What is the TeraGrid, and how can I get started using it?
On this page:
Introduction
The TeraGrid is the largest cyberinfrastructure facility available for nonclassified use in the US. The TeraGrid is a centerpiece of the efforts of the US National Science Foundation (NSF) to enable new, 21st century science innovations. The TeraGrid provides a network of supercomputers with more than 250 teraflops of computing power, data storage facilities to store more than 30 petabytes of data, high-resolution visualization environments, and toolkits for grid computing, all connected through a very high-capacity network. If you need access to more computing power, storage capabilities, or advanced consulting support to advance your scientific research, consider getting a TeraGrid account.
A TeraGrid account allows you to use supercomputers at:
- Indiana University (IU)
- Joint Institute for Computational Sciences (JICS)
- Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
- National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)
- Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC)
- Purdue University
- San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDCS)
- Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC)
- University of Chicago/Argonne National Laboratory (UC/ANL)
- National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
The two definitive sources of information about the TeraGrid are the Knowledge Base and the main TeraGrid web site, which includes a great deal of information about the TeraGrid and its capabilities.
Following is an outline of the steps you will need to take to begin
using the TeraGrid, with links to complete information. You may need
assistance from a consultant as you try to use the TeraGrid. For
general inquiries, send email to
help@teragrid.org . If you are a researcher at
IU, or you wish to use IU resources accessible via the TeraGrid, you
may also email
the High Performance Applications group at IU.
Account setup
-
Request an account: For instructions on applying
for less than 30,000 CPU hours and/or 4.9TB of storage space, see How do I apply for a TeraGrid allocation? If you wish to apply for a larger allocation, those
instructions will provide a rough guide to the process; for further
information, see also About applying for a large TeraGrid allocation (more than 30,000 CPU hours or 5TB of data storage).
Note: You can expect to wait roughly three weeks from when you make your request to receive your account information, which will arrive via US Postal Service surface mail.
-
Obtain accounts for other staff: If you need
TeraGrid accounts for other staff who are working on your research,
after you have received your account information, you can obtain them
through the TeraGrid User Portal. For instructions, see How can I add or remove a user from an existing TeraGrid allocation?
- Return the User Responsibility Forms: For more information, see the User Responsibility Form.
Using your TeraGrid account
To begin computing or moving data across multiple TeraGrid resources, follow the instructions in What's the recommended method for everyday access to the TeraGrid?
Getting help
For help, contact help@teragrid.org or, if
you are an IU researcher or a researcher at another institution who
wants to use IU systems via the TeraGrid, email Research
Technologies at IU.
This document was developed with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. 0503697 to the University of Chicago and subcontracted to Indiana University. Additional support was provided by IU through its participation in the TeraGrid, which is supported by the NSF under Grants No. 0833618, SCI451237, SCI535258, and SCI504075. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
Also see:
- What is Internet2?
- What is Abilene?
- What is I-Light?
- What are DAC, MRAC, and LRAC TeraGrid allocations?
- What is a teraflop?
Last modified on May 28, 2008.
