Digital Research Alliance of Canada (the Alliance)
Services Provided In Partnership With The Alliance
Advanced Research Computing
Simulations, calculations, data manipulations, and other forms of analysis at a large scale can benefit from using our clusters, large memory machines, and graphic processing unit resources.
ARC stands for “Advanced Research Computing” and primarily refers to running computer programs on computing systems optimized for high performance, across multiple processors at the same time for increased speed. This is often referred to as high-performance computing (HPC), high-throughput computing (HTC), or “parallel computing.” Programming tools such as MPI (Message Passing Interface) and OpenMP (Open Multi-Processing) are written into the code to enable this to happen. Many available research software packages are designed to make use of such resources. HPC and HTC are sub-components of ARC, which is meant to capture computing techniques and methods that are beyond what an average desktop or laptop can perform.
Six major systems are in place nationally, as follows:
- Arbutus: A cloud platform with compute and persistent nodes, located at the University of Victoria
- Béluga: A general-purpose HTC cluster, located at the École de technologie supérieure in Montréal
- Cedar: A large general-purpose HTC cluster, located at Simon Fraser University
- Graham: A general-purpose HTC cluster, located at the University of Waterloo
- Narval: A general-purpose HTC cluster, located at the École de technologie supérieure in Montréal
- Niagara: A tightly coupled HPC cluster, located at the University of Toronto
IST Research Computing can advise on other ARC resources such as commercial cloud, sensitive data research environments, storage, and more.
For access to national resources, the first step is to sign-up for an Alliance account. Once your account is in place, you will be able to access many of the computing clusters within the Alliance using a protocol called Secure Shell (SSH), a cryptographic network protocol for accessing computing services securely over an unsecured network. Having an Alliance account will grant you access to a basic amount of available resources. If you require a larger amount of the available resources, you will need to submit an application to the Alliance as part of a process known as the Resource Allocation Competition (RAC), or contact us to see if other options are available.
For assistance in assessing commercial cloud resources and services, email research.support@ualberta.ca requesting a cloud consultation.
ARC training is available via Bootcamp workshops, webinars, and one-on-one sessions. There are also instructions for how to use most of the systems on the Alliance website and documentation wiki.
IST Research Computing is always able to provide consultation to get you started on digital research. Technical support is available from the Alliance federation, including from staff in IST. Documentation is also available.
Use of the ARC systems and services within the Alliance network is free for faculty and librarians at Canadian research institutions. Use beyond basic amounts is subject to the RAC review process noted above. Students gain access through a sponsoring faculty member, also at no cost.
Alliance Cloud
Cloud computing can extend your research infrastructure for tasks like: research websites or portals, web scraping, data crunching, or running interactive software on systems more powerful than your desktop.
Cloud computing can be described as “computing resources provided remotely as a service.” Those computing resources include computing power, data storage, networking, and software combined flexibly to offer services aligned with user needs. Possible service offerings include file storage tools, data processing pipelines, virtualized computers, and computing cycles on demand. Google Drive, online shared calendars, and online tax preparation software are all examples of cloud services.
There are currently the following cloud services available:
Alliance Cloud, based on OpenStack and at no cost to Alliance account holders
- Arbutus, the largest cloud site of the Alliance
- Cedar cloud
- Béluga cloud
- Graham cloud
Commercial cloud resources are also available, which may come at a cost. IST Research Computing offers an incubator currently based on Google Cloud Platform for those cloud users whose needs are not met by the Alliance Cloud systems and services above. Email research.support@ualberta.ca requesting a cloud consultation.
- Follow the instructions on this Alliance documentation page to gain access to Alliance cloud services.
- For access to the cloud incubator and further assistance with commercial cloud service, please contact research.support@ualberta.ca.
Each year, Research Computing offers a set of cloud training workshops during the Spring and Fall Bootcamps. View the latest Bootcamp cloud material .
Support for the Alliance cloud services is available through the Alliance’s website and by emailing cloud@tech.alliancecan.ca.
Support for other cloud services including our cloud incubator and other commercial clouds, email research.support@ualberta.ca requesting a cloud consultation.
Software
Hundreds of popular research software packages are pre-installed and ready to go on the national clusters. If what you need is not readily available, we will work with you to either choose an alternative, or install the software you need.
Software currently loaded on the Alliance systems is documented on their Wiki. The list changes frequently as new software is added. You can request the installation or updating of a particular program or library by contacting Technical Support.
New software modules are usually installed by system analysts and administrators on a system-wide level. Requests for new modules can be made by emailing support@tech.alliancecan.ca. Commercial software packages can also be requested.
Training is available on how to use select software tools via workshops, webinars, and one-on-one sessions. There are also instructions for how to use most of the systems on the Alliance’s website and associated documentation Wiki.
Support for software is handled by Technical Support.
Training
A variety of training opportunities are available through our Research Computing group as well as our online partners across Canada.
A variety of training opportunities are available throughout the year on an ongoing basis, including:
- ARC Systems Skills Workshops: These are typically run as in-person workshops at the University of Alberta during Research Computing Bootcamps, which are held three times each year: late April to early May, late September to early October, and late January to early February.
- Webinars: These are available throughout the term with a rotating array of topics. A calendar of upcoming training is available on the Alliance website. A listing of archived western training events is also available on their training site.
Upcoming training events are posted on the Research Computing Group home page with registration information attached to each link.
Our Research Computing Bootcamp workshops are free. Some ARC training providers in eastern Canada may charge a small fee.
Storage
From 100 GB of Dropbox-like storage to run your lab to petabytes of storage to handle your research data, Alliance account holders can store data and files in places that will provide both the room and features you need to get your research done.
Alliance account holders have access to a variety of storage resources across the available systems ranging from 100 GB via Nextcloud to 1 TB default disk space on /project space on cluster filesystems, to petabytes of storage for large research projects using dCache. There are also newer types of storage such as object storage and Cloud shared filesystem (cephFS) to suit some special needs (both with 10 TB/project quota in default).
The exact amount of storage available depends on the system being used and whether the account holder has been allocated storage resources beyond the basic amounts available to all users.
- Nextcloud, a dropbox-like web-based storage space
- Cluster filesystems, storage space on each cluster, including /project, /scratch, /home, and nearline space for different use cases
- dCache, a grid-based large cross-site storage space, please contact support@tech.alliancecan.ca
- Object storage, suitable for storing unstructured data such as video/audio, webpages, sensor data, etc. Please contact cloud@tech.alliancecan.ca
- Shared cloud filesystem, shared storage space among cloud instances/projects. Please contact cloud@tech.alliancecan.ca
- Globus, a useful tool for large-volume data transfers from/to a remote site or between sites
Use of storage systems within the Alliance network is free for faculty and librarians at Canadian research institutions, although use beyond basic amounts is subject to the RAC review process. Find out more about the Resource Allocation Competition (RAC).
Visualization
Ensure your research achieves maximum impact by communicating it clearly and effectively with great visualizations. We can connect you to regional and national experts and applicable software to help you do this.
SFU maintains a visualization expert who is shared across the Alliance. Visualization support is available on the Alliance website, and some sites within the Alliance maintain sets of visualization resources, as follows:
Accessing these tools and services depends on the systems on which they have been deployed.
Training is available through the individual consortia and will be listed via the links to the visualization portions of their websites, linked to above, when available. Requests can also be made through the various consortia support channels for visualization training.
Visualization support and information is available at support@tech.alliancecan.ca (specify visualization).
Use of the visualization systems and support available within the Alliance network is free for faculty and librarians at Canadian research institutions. Use beyond basic amounts is subject to the RAC review process noted above. Students holding accounts through a sponsoring faculty member can also use the systems and support at no direct cost.
Our Partners in Research Computing
The Alliance, in federation with regional organizations including Prairies DRI and with research universities, provides the infrastructure that allows for innovation in advanced research computing (ARC). Deploying ARC systems, storage, and software solutions as well as providing support, the Alliance is your go-to resource for research computing. To learn more, apply for an account, or access your current account, please visit the Alliance website.
Prairies DRI and BC
Across Western Canada, a team of technical experts works in partnership with other regions and the Alliance to provide advanced research computing systems, services, and support, as well as research data management services to researchers across Canada. Providing researchers with training as well as the technical resources for high performance computing, visualization and data storage, research computing teams across the West’s largest research universities collaborate to provide excellent digital research support.
Employees
Technology Support