The Center for Computation and Visualization remains committed to supporting the computing needs of the Brown Research Community during this difficult time. COVID-19 Updates

High-Performance Computing (Oscar)

Research computing cluster featuring more than 300 multi-core nodes, GPU nodes, and a high-performance parallel filesystem

Oscar Specifications
Compute Notes 334
GPU Nodes 23
Login Nodes 2
Large-Memory Nodes (>512 GB) 6
Total CPU Cores 8740
Total GPUs 95
Total Storage (GPFS Filesystem) 1.7 PB
OS RedHat EL 7.3 (Linux)
Job Scheduler Slurm Workload Manager

A large collection of software is available on Oscar, and CCV staff can help acquire and install most applications upon request.

  • MATLAB
  • R
  • Python
  • CUDA
  • Perl
  • Julia
  • TensorFlow
  • Blender
  • Paraview

Terms of Service

Access and User Accounts - User accounts are controlled via central authentication and directories on HPC are only deleted on the request of the user, PI, or departmental chair.

Denial of Access - Authorized users must comply with the Brown University Acceptable Use Policy and the Computing Passwords Policy. Please refer to the full list of policies at Computing Policies.

Storage

  • Home Directories: All HPC accounts have a 20GB home directory. All home directories are backed up on a nightly basis. Requests for data restores can be made by contacting support@ccv.brown.edu.
  • Scratch Disk: CCV maintains a scratch pool shared by all HPC users. This storage is intended for temporary files. It is not backed up and old files are purged regularly.
  • RDATA: All HPC environments have access to RDATA GPFS disk storage. All faculty have a base allocation of 1TB without charge (across any combination of CIS/CCV storage platforms), as well as grant allocated storage and purchased storage as described at CCV Rates. RDATA storage is backed up nightly.

Maintenance Schedule

  • Nondisruptive Maintenance (may occur at any time, no notification provided) - nondisruptive work, including software changes, maintenance and testing

  • Monthly Scheduled Maintenance (first Tuesday of the month, 8:00 am - 12:00 noon, no notification provided) - no downtime expected, but there may be limited degradation of performance

  • Unscheduled Maintenance - (occurs very rarely, 4 week prior notification provided) - CCV tries to avoid whenever possible; maximum 1 day downtime

  • Major Upgrade Maintenance - (occurs annually, 4 week prior notification provided) - service may be brought down for 3-5 days

Unplanned Outages

  • During Business Hours:
    • Send email to support@ccv.brown.edu. A ticket will get created and CCV staff will attempt to address the issue as soon as possible.
  • During Non-Business Hours:
    • Send email to support@ccv.brown.edu.
    • Call CIS Operations Center at (401) 863-7562. A ticket will get created and CCV staff will be contacted to address the issue.
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