Overview

Research Computing, a department within Information Technology, has been established to promote the availability of high performance computing resources essential to effective research at the University of South Florida.

Research computing consists of five broad and integrated areas of responsibility.

Table of Content

High performance computing infrastructure provisioning and maintenance
- Scientific Software Installation or Update
Research storage infrastructure provisioning and maintenance
- Charge
Advanced Visualization Services, Training and Consulting
- Charge
Project, Grant and Research Consulting and Training
- Charge
Administration of REDCap research database software
Acknowledging RC

High Performance Computing Infrastructure Provisioning and Maintenance

This allows researchers and students to utilize different compute clusters depending on their need for performance and data security.

HPC is available to students and researchers at USF. To request access to the system, students will need a faculty sponsor. For undergraduate students, this may include the instructor for a class they are taking. Students taking classes will be directed to the student cluster (sc.rc.usf.edu), which is ideal for testing codes and functionality, as well as becoming familiar with HPC.

For researchers, two clusters are currently available: the CIRCE high performance computing cluster (circe.rc.usf.edu), as well as the secure cluster for the processing of sensitive data (rra.rc.usf.edu). Requests for access are made either directly through the JIRA ticketing system, or by sending an email to rc-help@usf.edu. Sending an email will automatically create a service ticket, which will be routed to Research Computing.

All published documentation that Research Computing maintains is located on the RC Wiki. The URL is https://wiki.rc.usf.edu (Links to an external site.)

This wiki contains information about:

Scheduling Jobs
System Information
Sample Submit Scripts
Hardware/Software Available
Available Test Environments
Other Information Relevant to USF High Performance Computing (HPC)

Please look around the wiki to see what information is available. If you contact Research Computing for help and the information you are requesting is already on the wiki, you may be redirected back to the wiki for the information you are seeking.

Scientific Software Installation or Update

Faculty and student research and academic initiatives often require specific scientific software titles. RC offers services for such software including installation of new packages, and upgrades to already installed applications. IT staff will work with you to determine the software requirements and best method for deployment.

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Research Storage Infrastructure Provisioning and Maintenance

This provides services for high performance data services, data security, and data redundancy.

Research Computing operates / manages storage systems for High Performance, High Security and Long-Term storage. High performance storage institutes disk space usage and file count quotas on all users' /home, /work, and /shares directories.

High security storage is available (as requested) for secure data processing as needed (i.e., research or grant-specific security requirements)

Long-term storage is also available for purchase by departments and researchers when required.

Charge

Storage costs are currently $30-$40/TB/year depending on tier and options. These costs may vary if additional storage backups are requested. In addition, very large requests > 500TB may need to be priced individually.

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Advanced Visualization Services, Training and Consulting

This provides services to students, researchers, and organizations outside of USF.

The Advanced Visualization Center staff assists students and faculty with the use of advanced technologies for the creation of visualizations for education and research. The AVC staff also provide training on advanced software applications and data visualization techniques.

The Center supports the advancement of technology in education, using the following assets:

an Ultra High Resolution Visualization Wall, with remote access to USF's High Performance Computing Cluster
a Rapid Prototyping Lab with over 40 3D printers
the Advanced Visualization Student Lab

RC and AVC staff continue to explore and develop innovative practices in 3D Modeling, 3D Printing, Visual Graphics, Animation, Augmented and Virtual Reality, Data Analysis and Interactive Applications. The Advanced Visualization Center is part of USF Information Technology, Research Computing.

Charge

Printing costs are based on amount of material and time needed for printing. Model creation and preparation are free for students and for faculty. For other uses and additional information, please visit the AVC website.

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Project, Grant and Research Consulting and Training

This allows new researchers to get up to speed quickly, as well as provide specialized computational services to aid in grant writing, proposal creation, and research assistance. To request this service, please send an email to rc-help@usf.edu

Charge

There is no initial charge for this service, but based on the size and complexity of the needs of the project there may be some cost. It is expected that for more extensive projects, grants or other funding will be sought in cooperation with the Research.

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Administration of REDCap Research Database Software

This provides researchers a tool to collect data, conduct surveys, and produce reports in a secured data environment.

Research Computing administers a database system called REDCap. This database is developed and maintained by Vanderbilt University. Information for the project is located at https://projectredcap.org (Links to an external site.)

Individual training is not currently offered for this database; however, there are extensive videos and reference material contained within the application.

This system is to be utilized for research, training, and quality improvement projects that benefit The University of South Florida. Because this system may contain Protected Health Information, we govern it as a HIPAA Compliant Application. As such, the following is required to access the system:

You must be a faculty or researcher of USF, or have a faculty sponsor
You must have an active NETID
You must take the Professional Integrity and Compliance training (HIPAA Privacy, Computer and Information Security, and Code of Conduct) through https://usf.sabacloud.com (Links to an external site.)
You must sign a REDCap security agreement, outlining the terms of use of the system.

To request access to REDCap for research purposes, send an email message to rc-help@usf.edu

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Acknowledging RC

Our computational resources are freely available to faculty and students involved in research projects. We ask that you kindly acknowledge us in all publications for which our resources have been useful.

Our preferred acknowledgment statement is "The author(s) would like to acknowledge the use of the services provided by Research Computing at the University of South Florida". We also ask that you send an email to rc-help@usf.edu of publications or grant requests in which our facilities are mentioned. We would also appreciate being kept informed of any grant requests that are fulfilled.

If you are unable to solve your issue with this knowledge base article, please contact the USF IT Service Desk by using Chat at itchat.usf.edu, calling (813) 974-HELP (4357) or emailing help@usf.edu.

If you find any errors or omissions in any knowledge base article, please contact and inform the USF IT Service Desk by calling (813) 974-HELP (4357) or emailing help@usf.edu.

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