HPC Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I request an account?

A: To obtain an account, you must be a faculty member or associated with a faculty-led research project. If you are a faculty member, then you are the faculty lead/PI and should enter yourself as such. If you are not a faculty member, you’ll need to provide the name of the faculty lead/PI for the research project you will be working on.

 To request an HPC account:

 First, sign in at https://servicedesk.louisville.edu/ using your ULINK credentials. Note: each applicant must log in and complete their own account request using their own ULINK account. If a potential user does not have a ULINK account, then they must obtain one via ITS’ sponsored ULINK account request process before proceeding with an HPC account request.  

Next, Request an HPC Account (if the link doesn’t work, select Accounts and Security in the IT Service Catalog drop-down menu) and then choose the request an HPC Account button. 

Fill out the form and hit the create button to submit the request.

 Please be sure to include the faculty lead/PI’s name and email address, the research system(s) you are requesting access to (usually the CRC), your email address if you do not have a UL email address, and a little information, a sentence or two will do, about your work under the section labeled "Please state the purpose for which the account is being requested."

If you anticipate needing more than 1-2TB of long-term storage and/or you are working with sensitive or controlled data (as defined by the Information Security Office (ISO) - see https://louisville.edu/security/policies/data_class ) please be sure to indicate that in the purpose section of your request.

 Requests with missing information will not be processed.

 If you need additional assistance navigating ITS online Service Catalog, please contact the Helpdesk at 502-852-7997 or https://servicedesk.louisville.edu/page/helpdesk

Q: How do I acknowledge use of the CRC and/or research computing consultants' time in my publications?

A: The preferred text is: This work was conducted in part using the resources of the University of Louisville's research computing group and the Cardinal Research Cluster.

or, for just consulting time:

This work was conducted in part using the resources of the University of Louisville's research computing group.

Q: Is my data backed up?

A: Home directories are backed up. Scratch directories are not. Every user has one home directory and at least one scratch directory. Files in the scratch directories may be periodically deleted when space is an issue, i.e. when more than 90% of the disk is full. You will be given advanced notice before files are deleted so that you can move them off the cluster.

Q: Do I have unlimited storage space?

A: There is a quota of 25 GB for faculty and 10 GB for students on your home directory. There is currently no quota on your scratch directories, although this may change if storage space conflicts arise.

Q: What consulting services do you offer?

A: We offer general consulting on research computing problems. Free open consulting is available for up to 8 hours of consulting, and free extended consulting may be available for up to 160 hours of time. You must contact us for extended consulting.  Approval depends on the availability of a consultant with suitable expertise for your research problem. 

Q: Why can't I access the CRC from off campus?

A: The CRC is behind the campus firewall, so users must access it either from an on-campus computer or using the UofL vpn.   When requesting a CRC account, users are automatically given a VPN account.

Contact us at it-hpc@louisville.edu with any questions or for additional information.